Recently I received a request from the visionary behind Adriatica, Mr. Jeff Blackard, in regards to meeting face to face. Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Blackard at his office, located on site next to the bell tower. Mr. Blackard was very friendly and wanted to meet me to discuss my fascination with the Adriatica development. It is apparent that he is dedicated to this project and that this is his dream project. He tells me that he has made over 100 trips to Croatia and that he has collected a very large digital library of places and architectural pieces that he uses in creating and the best of the best in the Adriatica development. It appears that his biggest passion currently is getting the performing arts center built in Adriatica and convincing the city of McKinney that they should contribute to this project. He tells me that all of the dirt that was excavated recently from the Adriatica site was transported to be used in the Highway 121 tollway project. If you live in Stonebridge Ranch, you probably remember the Rodman Excavating trucks full of dirt going in and out of the development 24/7 for several weeks. I had once heard that there would be a bridal suite at the top of the bell tower, but Jeff tells me that that is not the case, it will be the home of his office. I was told that he receives inquiries about the Adriatica project from all around the world, including Dubai. He also mentioned that one of the largest movie location studios, located in Texas, has their eyes on the development for future location shootings. Mr. Blackard his high hopes and expectations for Adriatca and is committed to making this one of the most unique developments in the US. I share the same passion for this project and the believe that the citizens of McKinney and the city government need to support this project. This project has, and will continue to draw worldwide attention to McKinney. What are your thoughts? Feel free to use the "comments" button below to be heard!