Christopher O'Hare

Christopher O'Hare is an American artist, sculptor, inventor, and landscape architect based in South Florida.[1] He is the founder of both Pineapple Grove Designs—a producer of ornamental art for architecture[2][3]—and Reef Cells—a company that designs and deploys artificial, eco-friendly reef structures (some of which memorialize deceased people).[4][5][6] Clients of Pineapple Grove Designs include Paul McCartney, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gianni Versace, California D.O.T., the Miami Dolphins, and the University of Notre Dame.[1] O'Hare's work is on projects throughout North America and overseas from Okinowa Japan to Dubai UAE.[1][6]

Christopher O'Hare
Occupations
Known forFounder of Pineapple Grove Designs and Reef Cells
WebsitePineapple Grove Website

Career
Sculpted panels to honor the U.S. Military readied for California highway project

O'Hare began his career as a landscape architect, designing gardens for residential and resort properties in Miami and Palm Beach.[7] In 1986, O'Hare was a member of the Old School Square Committee and the Beautification Trust Committee for the city of Delray Beach, Florida. The committee was tasked with revitalizing and redeveloping certain sections of the town.[7][8] In June 1986, he resigned from his post as chairman of the Beautification Committee to focus more on his business.[9] O'Hare continued proposing revitalization developments even after his resignation from the committee.[10]

In 1989, O'Hare founded Pineapple Grove Designs in his garage in Delray Beach. The company now occupies a 50,000 sq ft facility in Boynton Beach, Florida. The company produces numerous stone-sculpted architectural ornamental products.[1] Sculpted products come in a wide range of standard designs including historic, traditional and contemporary imagery. The company also produces custom designs for customers. O'Hare offers all his architectural art, including 3 dimensional sculpture, bas-relief panels, tile, paintings and architectural grilles through Pineapple Grove Designs.[1][6]

Studio assistant adds finishing touches to O'Hare's Firehock Memorial Reef

In 1996, O'Hare resided in Ocean Ridge, Florida and was elected to the Town Commission.[11] He served on the commission for two years, overseeing projects like the planting of 40,000 plants on beach dunes in the town[12] and the hiring of a new Town Manager.[13] He also donated decorative stone panels for a landscaping project in the city.[14] O'Hare returned to full-time private business when his term expired.[11]

In 2005, O'Hare designed and deployed one of his first artificial reefs. He had previously been granted patents for the design of these artificial reefs in 1997, with additional patents still pending. The reef was donated and deployed in honor of fireman Peter Firehock who had died in December 2001. O'Hare's own father was a New York City firefighter.[6]

The Firehock Reef led to O'Hare founding Reef Cells, a nonprofit subsidiary of Pineapple Grove Designs.[5] Reef Cells are made of a pH neutral Portland and aluminate cement mix and are designed to provide an ideal location for reef-based marine life to thrive. Each reef unit is composed of interconnecting cavities referred to as "cells." O'Hare took on a similar memorialization project in 2015 when he created 40 Reef Cells to memorialize Andrew "Red" Harris. Harris had been killed by a boat while snorkeling in 2014. The reef was deployed in August 2015 in the Jupiter Inlet 3.5 miles off the coast of Jupiter, Florida.[4][5][15][16]

Patents
  • U.S. Patent 20,030,138,296 Method for assembling artificial reef modular units, filed January 24, 2002; issued July 24, 2003
  • U.S. Patent 6,189,188 Memorialization of human cremain in artificial reef, filed March 15, 1999; issued February 20, 2001
  • U.S. Patent 5,669,330 Aquatic organism habitat device, filed June 7, 1995; issued September 23, 1997

References
  1. Lunsford, Darcie (July 11, 2005). "Deal could be as big as Citigroup". South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  2. "Sculptor deals Gulf Stream 5BD for $2.6M". Blockshopper. December 22, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  3. "Meet the Artist". Pineapple Grove Designs. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  4. Keegan, Charlie (May 29, 2015). "Harris family creating artificial reefs to honor son". WPTV-TV. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  5. Hall, Vivianne (May 21, 2015). "HONORING 'RED'". TCPalm. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  6. Caldwell, Tanya (September 3, 2005). "Artificial Reef A Tribute To Fallen Firefighter And Diver". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  7. Smith, Gina (April 14, 1986). "Council seeks landscaping funding". Boca Raton News. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  8. Smith, Gina (April 17, 1986). "Financing for beautification plan not rooted yet". Boca Raton News. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  9. "Beautification trust's chairman resigns post". The Palm Beach Post. June 12, 1986. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  10. Staletovich, Jenny (July 11, 1988). "New visage on way for Swinton". Boca Raton News. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  11. Rosen, Jill (January 25, 1999). "Voters Are Going To Polls Soon". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  12. Augustin, Merle (August 4, 1998). "40,000 Plants To Shore Up Dunes". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  13. Augustin, Merle (January 31, 1998). "Manager Gets To Keep His Job For Time Being". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  14. "Ocean Ridge Oks Plans". Sun-Sentinel. September 13, 1997. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  15. Bone, Rex (August 11, 2015). "Artifical [sic] reef slated for Jupiter as a memorial to Andrew "Red" Harris". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  16. "Artificial reef is memorial to man who was struck and killed by boat while snorkeling". Daily Journal. August 11, 2015. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
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