Marineland Dolphin Adventure, the world’s first oceanarium and for most of its 87 years a Florida tourist destination with a storied past, was sold at auction on Monday for $7.1 million to a mystery company with scarce footprints that goes by the name of Delightful Development LLC.
No such company is registered with the Florida Division of Corporations. The name is registered in a few other states, including in Texas, where it was registered this year. The Texas-based Delightful Development was co-founded by Craig Cavalier, formerly of Magestic Realty Co., a commercial developer. But it isn’t at all clear whether the two delights are the same corporate entity that bid for the Marineland prize.
If the name augurs its future intentions for the 5.1-acre property, the site’s days as an oceanarium are approaching their end, and the 17 dolphins there, six of them born in Marineland, will have to find new homes.
The acreage “does have a zoning designation that allows for development of tourism-type uses,” Marineland Town Attorney Dennis Bayer said. “It’ll be a discussion Thursday night.” The town commission is holding its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Oct. 16.
The company bid for Marineland Dolphin Adventure at an auction in Delaware federal bankruptcy court. The court will conduct a sale hearing to approve the bid on Oct. 27 at 2 p.m.
Delightful Development outbid St. Augustine-based Hutson Companies, which had been the “stalking horse” bidder–meaning the publicized bidder whose $3.5 million bid had to be bested. Delightful Development bid more than double Hutson’s amount. (See: “Hutson Companies, Major Housing Developer, Bids $3.5 Million for Bankrupt Marineland Dolphin Adventure.”)
Companies that showed interest or were said to be interested in the property included Ft. Lauderdale-based Providence Island Venture, whose representative, Hugh Darley, had told the Marineland Town Commission last month that his company would be the stalking horse, and Bass Pro Shop. (That company and its affiliates bought some 5,200 acres around Welaka in Putnam County in 2022, when Jessica Finch was on the Welaka Town Council. Finch is now on the Marineland Town Commission.)
Jack Kassewitz, president of a non-profit, Global Hart, that focuses on human communications with dolphins, said he’d teamed up with former Marineland Dolphin Adventures general manager Felicia Cook and secured financing of $4 million (plus operational funds of $1.5 million) to bid on the attraction as the only party that would have preserved the dolphins there, with a plan to reinvest in the business. But he missed the deadline by three days (a previous backer had withdrawn), and the court locked him out of the process. He is filing a protest.
“What Felicia and I are trying to do is save the heart of this and not build a condominium there,” Kassewitz said. “One of the things the bankruptcy judge did say during one of our hearings, the top priority is the health of these animals, the health and welfare of the dolphins.”
Marineland Dolphin Adventure is among a family of 15 companies operating under the umbrella of Leisure Investment Holdings, itself owned by The Dolphin Company in Mexico. The company in Mexico filed for bankruptcy in February. Leisure Investment Holdings did so on March 31. The Marineland attraction has continued to operate on a scaled-back schedule. It employs 35 people, according to court papers.
“The value of Marineland cannot be measured in dollars alone,” Kassewitz said after learning of the sale this afternoon. “It is the home of 17 dolphins who have established relationships with each other and their human caretakers. “Our team who was shut out from the bidding process, includes the staff who have already dedicated their lives to the care of these dolphins, and experienced dolphin researchers. Although we don’t have the deep pockets of big developers, we do have the plan that best serves the dolphins, the employees and the community.” He is still hopeful that the court will take the offer into account before approving the sale later this month.
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