The author is a veteran journalist who served as Florida bureau chief for the New York Post before launching The St. Johns Citizen, which first published this story on October 29, 2025. The story is reprinted here with permission.
By SELIM ALGAR
What had seemed a done deal to sell Marineland Dolphin Adventure to a Texas-based developer was upended this month when a Clay County 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.
Marinaland is one of Florida‘s first marine mammal parks, is billed as “the world’s first oceanarium, having opened in 1938. Situated along Route AIA about 18 miles south of St. Augustine, Marineland functions as an entertainment and swim-with-the-dolphins facility, and reopened to the public on March 4, 2006 by its current owners.
In a joint letter to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein dated October 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.
“On Wednesday, October 8th, we learned of an opportunity to support Jack Kassewitz and Felicia Cook in their bid to maintain the integrity of Marineland… Our support was to purchase the property, the dolphins, and the other marine animals,” the Rubels said.
They offered $4 million in cash for the park and its animals, plus $1.5 million in start-up capital, and emphasized that their plan would preserve both the property and its staff.
“The Management Team we have onboard includes a previous general manager of Marineland and an internationally recognized dolphin expert,” they wrote. “It also includes the current staff who have dedicated their lives to the care of these animals.”
Kassewitz told Silverstein in a Tuesday hearing that Rubel-backed group was unfairly barred from participating in the auction, which ended with Texas developer Craig Cavileer’s winning bid of $7.1 million.
Northeast Florida developer The Hutson Companies finished second.
Attorneys for the seller argued that the Rubels’ campaign came in late and did not meet several auction requirements set by the court.
The couple wants the auction re-opened to potentially avoid “tearing down this 87-year-old national historic landmark and developing it into condominiums or hotels,” their letter states.
Judge Silverstein declined to finalize the sale to Cavileer on Tuesday, citing the need for more information and context.
She urged all sides to confer on the matter, but noted the gap between the conservation group’s bid and Cavileer’s winning number.
Silverstein scheduled a follow-up hearing for November 10.
The Florida marine park, which opened in 1938, was auctioned as part of the bankruptcy of its Mexico-based owner, The Dolphin Company, which cited financial difficulties at several of its aquatic parks.
Cavileer, a longtime industry figure known for his role in revitalizing Fort Worth’s popular stockyards district and for leading the Silverton Casino in Las Vegas, declined to comment when reached by phone last week.
Rubel is currently senior vice president at MSN Healthcare Solutions, where she has worked for nearly three decades, according to her LinkedIn profile.