did not properly locate the area geographically. Construction began on the Flamingo Canal near U.S. 41 and proceeded toward Fairway Boulevard. It was their intention to extend the canal to Tampa Bay so as to achieve access to open water. The task became too large for the amount of capital they had invested and for the abilities of the persons involved, and in 1956 they notified Dickman they could not go through with the project. In 1957, Francis Corr, a retired businessman from Michigan, purchased the land. Corr renamed the area "La Vida Beach". Legend has it that in 1958 Corr's wife Dorothy suggested a new name, "Apollo Beach", for the area's greatest benefit — sunshine. Mr. Corr started construction of 50 homes in the area between U.S. 41 and Golf & Sea Boulevard. In early 1958, Corr reached an agreement with Robert E. Lee, a South Carolina contractor, to join in the development. Lee was to continue the dredging of canals, and in exchange was to receive parcels of land. In the early 1960s, Francis Corr sold his company and the Apollo Beach land to a Miami company known as Flora Sun Corporation. Flora Sun sold some of the land on the northern end to the Tampa Electric Company for a power plant site on the land's northern border, which is now the Big Bend Power Station. Flora Sun failed in its obligations in the purchase of the land from the Corr family, and about seven years later the family got the land back out of bankruptcy court. In the mid-1960s, Corr's son Thomas moved his young family to the area to continue work on the Apollo Beach project; however, while the land was in bankruptcy proceedings from Flora Sun, the dredge and fill permits required to construct the canal system expired. The Corr family continued to struggle with the development over the years, facing regulatory hurdles and tightening growth policy in Florida with the passage of the growth management act in 1972 and expanded policies in 1984. Thomas Corr continued to develop the community and donated land for parks and schools and preserving hundreds of acres of mangrove swamps and environmental areas. He started a community bank, a chamber of commerce, civic clubs and festivals. Thomas Corr died in 1998. In 2006, Hillsborough County honored the work of Thomas Corr by naming the new elementary school on Big