Photo provided The Poolside Pavilion Community Members consist of Tony Donadio - Donadio & Associates, Brad Schuh - Summit Construction, Robert Paugh - Bill Bryant & Associates, Tony Della Porta - Della Porta Construction, Sam Jelmby - Helmet House, Chris Long - Roof Authority, Robin Pelensky - Surlaterre Landscape Architecture, Martina Tannery - Martinas Photography, Marsha Damerow - Fat Cat Graphics, Ginny Blossom - Certified Fundraising Consultant, The Garden Club of Indian River County and Beverly Paris - Paris Productions.

An artist rendering of the pavilion planned for Leisure Square, a 20x20 prefabricated structure to be customized with upgrades.

Jeff Matthews, director of programs for the rec. department, with Bev Paris, a public relations specialist and volunteer for the city.

VERO BEACH VERO BEACH When Jeff Matthews, manager of recreation programs for the City of Vero Beach, was asked what improvements hed like to see at Leisure Square, he didnt hesitate to request shade on the pool deck.

Now, there are plans to build a poolside pavilion at the public facility with a free kick-off event on March 1 called Community Day at Leisure Square.

On any given Saturday, 500 people check in at Leisure Square recreational and aquatic campus on 16th Street to work out or take classes.

The city-owned complex has long been an integral part of the neighborhood, a place where generations of children have learned to swim, do back walkovers and shoot hoops.

Situated on 10 acres between 27th and 43rd avenues, Leisure Square contains wide open soccer, rugby and lacrosse fields, an expansive pool and basketball courts, as well as five buildings housing year-round gymnastics, dance and exercise classes.

Prior to the city acquiring Leisure Square in 1992, it was a YMCA. Back then, people didnt know as much about the dangers of overexposure to the sun.

Summer campers used to be outside in the sun 90 percent of the day, says Matthews, who learned to swim at the former Y as a boy growing up in Vero Beach.

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Plans for poolside pavilion at Leisure Square

Anaheim Contemporary Outdoor Living Area Rim Flow Pool - Urban Landscape Design 3d Fly-Through
Anaheim Contemporary Outdoor Living Area Rim Flow Pool - Urban Landscape Design 3d Fly-Through Phone: 949.32.URBAN Web: http://urbanlandscape.com Follow us...

By: Urban Landscape - Landscape Design Construction

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Anaheim Contemporary Outdoor Living Area & Rim Flow Pool - Urban Landscape Design 3d Fly-Through - Video

By Steve Jacobs, Nature Designs

Aside from your home, your landscape is typically the second largest personal asset you own. Its an asset that can add tens of thousands of dollars of value to your home. Landscaping not only adds value immediately; it continues adding value for years to come because while other home renovations, such as kitchen and bathroom upgrades, eventually go out of style, plants and tree continue to grow and become more lush and valuable year after year. To ensure that youre adding value to your home, heres a list of investment opportunities to consider:

Add large trees that are healthy and properly prunedRecent nationwide surveys show that mature trees in a well-landscaped yard can increase the value of a house by 7 percent to 19 percent. Not only do trees contribute to curb appeal; they provide much-desired privacy and shade. Strategically placed trees can also cut down on air conditioning and therefore electricity bills.

Quality hardscape Brick, stone, and exposed aggregate there are so many wonderful options for hardscapes. We dont typically recommend pavers or concrete for estates because pavers dont often give that high-level appearance while concrete and stamped concrete tend to show age over time. Its important to choose a hardscape option that complements your garden and home. Investing in a quality driveway material is also something to consider since driveways play such a key role in curb appeal.

Swimming poolsThanks to San Diegos incomparable weather, San Diegans can throw pool parties all year-round! A swimming pool is a must if your goal is to convert your backyard into an oasis. Not only do pools add to your quality of life; a well-designed pool adds value in the luxury home market.

Water features Imagine lounging in your backyard listening to the trickle of water from your fountain, waterfall, stream or pond after a busy week. Water features add a peaceful ambience to an outdoor space, help drown out neighboring noises as well as enhance the beauty of your landscape. Water features also add an element of uniqueness to your landscape that can increase your property value.

Outdoor kitchens and living rooms Experts say that outdoor kitchens and living rooms help sell homes in warmer climates. Its key to build outdoor kitchens and living spaces that blend with your homes design. As an added bonus, you can use the drain water from your outdoor kitchen sink to irrigate your flower beds.

Curb appealFirst impressions are lasting, which is one of the reasons curb appeal is so important for the value of your home. There are so many wonderful ways to enhance curb appeal such as adding colorful planting beds, columns and walls, and upgrading light fixtures. Its also important to prune and lace trees and shrubs to show off their beauty.

In order for landscaping to increase your property value and the value of life in a meaningful way, its imperative to have a landscaping plan. Your landscape is a living asset, meaning that much care is needed so that each plant thrives. A good professional landscape contractor will look comprehensively at the site before choosing hardscape materials and plantings because, for example, if the wrong plant is planted in the wrong location, the results can be overgrown plants that are too close to the house, that block windows and views, or trees with roots that destroy a walkway or driveway. Quality landscape maintenance from trained professionals will ensure excellent results.

Whether youre looking for short term landscaping solutions to increase your home value to sell immediately or long term landscaping solutions to increase your quality of life and property value, visit Nature Designs to learn how we can help make your landscape even more of an asset. Log ontohttp://naturedesigns.net/ or call us at(760) 945-4321.

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Investing in Your Second Largest Asset Landscaping

For the royal treatment, spend the night in a castle. Here are five to consider.

1. CASTELLO DI CASOLE, TUSCANY, ITALY.

Stay in a reconstructed farmhouse surrounded by vineyards or opt for a suite adjacent to the pool and spa in the centre of the 1670-hectare estate.

Oozing with charm, the restored castle and grounds, dating to 998, provide a fairy-tale backdrop for a family holiday that might include horseback riding, fishing, hiking, yoga in a restored church, exploring neighbouring villages or learning to create local specialties. In the warmer months, enjoy evening concerts on the lawn as the sun drops below the rolling Tuscan hills.

Details: castellodicasole.com

2. OHEKA CASTLE, HUNTINGTON, NEW YORK

This French chateau-inspired castle was built in 1917 as the summer retreat for financier and philanthropist Otto Kahn. Docent-led tours provide visitors a glimpse into the Roaring '20s, when the mansion was the scene of lavish parties attended by Hollywood luminaries and royalty. Guests can enjoy an indoor pool or private beach, explore the extensive gardens, play tennis or work up a sweat in the fitness centre.

Details: oheka.com

3. ASHFORD CASTLE, MAYO, IRELAND

Shed your armour and relax within this enchanting 140-hectare landscape. With 700-year-old turrets as your backdrop, fish in nearby ponds and rivers, ride horses or refine your skills on the nine-hole private golf course.

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Holiday like royalty in a castle

Cel Gulapa and Fadzil Hamzah

Monday, Feb 03, 2014

CHINA - Construction is under way on a hotel resort that burrows into a 30m-deep quarry outside the city of Shanghai. Infographics journalists Cel Gulapa and Fadzil Hamzah dig deep to get the details

It is a hotel where you can rock climb and bungee jump, among other regular offerings.

The InterContinental Shimao Hotel in Shanghai's Songjiang district will have 380 rooms over 19 storeys, and a night's stay is expected to cost about $420.

Part of the hotel will be built into the cave and the extreme sports facility will be cantilevered over the quarry.

The rest of the hotel will be built into the mountainous landscape and guests will be able to enjoy watersports on the lake and use the nearby cliffs for rock climbing and bungee jumping.

There will be a swimming pool and sports centre, banquet hall and conference rooms. Among its restaurants is an underwater one that holds a 10m-deep aquarium.

The hotel, expected to be ready by next year, is designed by British firm Atkins which boast Dubai's Burj Al Arab Hotel as part of its portfolio.

The firm has designed the Chinese hotel to blend with the landscape. It will be fitted with an eco-friendly roof and will use naturally available resources for power.

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China's 5-star cave hotel

Orange Beach Landscape and Pool
Fully interactive landscape presentation created in VizTerra, professional 3D landscape design software. Powered by VizTerra - http://www.structurestudios.com.

By: Jeff Hendrix

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Orange Beach Landscape and Pool - Video

If homing pigeons wonder why humans are always driving them to faraway spots and leaving them behind, they dont hold it against us. They just keep coming back, providing prize money for pigeon racers and new data for scientists studying the navigational powers of an avian brain. Now those scientists have discovered a new trick in pigeons homing toolkit: the birds learn best when traveling near a boundary.

A homing pigeon thats looking for its loft can use many kinds of clues. It may navigate by the sun, the earths magnetic field, or the smell of a nearby chocolate factory. It might use visual landmarks, too. The birds seem to return well to the spires in the center of Oxford, for example, says Uppsala University mathematics researcher Richard Mann. However, Mann says, What has been missing is a direct link from something we can measure about [any] landscapeto a measurable change in the birds navigational behavior.

So Mann and his colleagues studied the flight paths of 31 homing pigeons, recorded by tiny GPS devices the birds wore on their backs. Each pigeon flew home 20 times from one of four different sites around Oxford. The birds had never been released at these sites before the study began.

Using an aerial photograph of the landscape around Oxford, the researchers calculated how simple or complex the birds-eye view was from one pixel to the next. They did this using edges, or changes in intensity in the image, Mann explains. You get a lot in cities and in forests, while an open field has fewer.

Left: Paths to the pigeons home loft from each of the release sites, ranging from 5 to 10.6 kilometers away. Right: The same aerial image filtered to show edges, or complexity. Boundaries between dark and light areas were where the birds learned best.

Then they calculated how similar each flight was to the flight taken right before it. As a bird repeated the same trip over and over, how quickly did it memorize the route it would stick to?

A birds faithfulness to one route, the scientists saw, depended on the complexity of the landscape it was flying over. Very complex spaces with lots of edgeslike the middle of the city, or dense areas of forestwerent ideal. (Previous studies have found that its hard to teach pigeons a route over a city, and that the birds avoid flying over certain patches of woodland.) But empty spaces werent great either.

There seemed to be a kind of Goldilocks landscape, not too dense and not too open, over which the pigeons learned best. Mann says you can picture this ideal scenery as a view that was half open field, half houses or dense trees. In other words, a boundary between an open area and a city or a forest. I think it is likely that the pigeons are [using] these large-scale boundaries as landmarks, Mann says, when they navigate their way home.

Mann has mostly moved on from navigation research and is now studying collective behavior in birds, fish, and humans. In homing pigeons, he and scientists at Oxford are now trying to find out how flocks of birds can pool their knowledge to navigate as a group. Mann has also published a paper about the best strategy for a game of Battleshipa problem that, compared to navigating home from an unfamiliar place, is more suited to a feeble human brain.

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Homing Pigeons Like to Live on the Edge

The mid-point of the 2013-14 scholastic season has come and gone, and much has happened in the high school wrestling landscape. This includes the development of Aaron Pico no longer being part of the scholastic wrestling pool. Pico is going to focus exclusively on an international wrestling career, and then move onto mixed martial arts. Since he is no longer wrestling scholastically, or in college, Pico will no longer be evaluated in the grade rankings. As a result, Mark Hall moves into the No. 1 slot for the Class of 2016. The other four No. 1 positions remain unchanged: Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md./USOTC) leads the 2014 group, Lance Benick (Totino Grace, Minn.) is best in the 2015 class, Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) is tops among the Class of 2017, while Cade Olivas (California) is the top junior high wrestler.

A notable mover in the senior class is Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.), who is now No. 18 after winning titles at the Ironman and Beast of the East. An additional positive mover in that group is Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) up to No. 21 after winning titles at both the Beast of the East and the Escape the Rock Tournament.

Among juniors the notable mover is Ke-Shawn Hayes (Park Hill, Mo.), who is now No. 4 overall after winning titles at both the Walsh Ironman and Kansas City Stampede.

A newcomer to the junior high top 15 is Theorius Robinson (Colorado), who won a title at the Tulsa Nationals earlier this month.

InterMat Platinum is required to view all the rankings.

Class of 2014 | Class of 2015 | Class of 2016 | Class of 2017 | Class of 2018+

Sneak Peek

Below is a sneak peek at the top wrestlers in each grade.

Class of 2014 (Top Ten): 1. Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) 2. Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale, Pa.) 3. Bryce Brill (Mount Carmel, Ill.) 4. Nick Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) 5. Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) 6. Micah Jordan (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) 7. Jason Nolf ( Kittanning, Pa.) 8. Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) 9. Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) 10. Sam Stoll (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.)

Class of 2015 (Top Five): 1. Lance Benick (Totino-Grace, Minn.) 2. Logan Massa (St. Johns, Mich.) 3. Anthony Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 4. Ke-Shawn Hayes (Park Hill, Mo.) 5. Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.)

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Grade rankings updated; Hall now No. 1 sophomore

Submitted The Aragon by Toll Brothers is one of two quick-delivery homes available in Bonita Lakes.

Bonita Lakes by Toll Brothers is offering homebuyers the opportunity to immediately move in to the home of their dreams. The Athena and award-winning Aragon quick-delivery homes are available.

The Athena home design positions the study and formal dining room directly off the foyer. The generous great room opens to a well-designed kitchen with a large center island. The open layout features three bedrooms and two full baths in 2,649 square feet. Set in a lush tropical landscape, the Athenas custom pool and spa enable homebuyers to enjoy Southwest Floridas weather. The home is priced at $489,995.

The one-story Aragon features a foyer, formal dining room and study. The great room is perfect for entertaining, with its coffered ceiling and glass doors leading to the outdoor covered lanai, which includes a custom pool and spa. The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath Aragon home encompasses 3,120 square feet and is priced at $599,995.

These move-in ready homes are two of the most popular Toll Brothers designs in Bonita Lakes, said Kevin Brown, vice president of Toll Brothers Florida West Division. Each home features an open layout and expansive great room, making them perfect for all homebuyers.

A gated community, Bonita Lakes offers 11 single- and two-story home designs, ranging from 2,058 to 4,354 square feet of air-conditioned living space. Ten of the homes feature a first-floor master suite, and every design offers four elevation options with an extensive list of luxury features included with each home. Prices range from the low $300,000s to the $500,000s.

Online at BonitaLakes.com.

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Bonita Lakes by Toll Brothers offers new move-in ready homes

Pool and Landscape Remodel - Arizona
Alexon Design Group has provided a before and after video of a complete pool and landscape remodel completed in late 2013. Visit http://www.alexondesign.com/...

By: Alexonaz

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Pool and Landscape Remodel - Arizona - Video