What had seemed a done deal to sell Marineland Dolphin Adventure to a Texas-based developer was upended this month when a local couple stepped in as last-minute backers of a preservation effort for the aquatic park.
Barbara Rubel, a longtime health-care executive from Green Cove Springs, and her husband, Jon, a retired professional, are funding the plan to maintain Marineland. The effort is being led by marine mammal expert Jack Kassewitz and former Marineland manager Felicia Cook, according to a court filing obtained by The Citizen.
In a joint letter to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein dated Oct. 23, the Rubels objected to the sale of the property to real estate developers, arguing that the park’s value went beyond its market price.
“We are asking you to protect Marineland and these animals by not approving the currently proposed sale,” they wrote in the jointly signed missive…