JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mark Middlebrook, a driving force behind Jacksonville’s urban park system and a former executive director of the Timucuan Parks Foundation, died Sunday in Spring City, Tennessee, the foundation said. He was 74.
“Mark was far more than a former Executive Director — he was foundational to who we are today,“ the foundation said. ”In 1999, he began working with the City of Jacksonville’s Preservation Project to acquire and protect natural and environmentally sensitive lands. His leadership and vision helped build one of the most impressive urban park systems in the nation and laid the groundwork for what would become the Timucuan Parks Foundation.”
TPF said it is “profoundly grateful” for all of the work Middlebrook did for Jacksonville, citing his leadership as the primary reason that thousands of acres of environmentally sensitive land will remain protected for future generations…