Moultrie Creek
"They want to tear the place down. They want the dolphins and, by privatizing the city, they can do what they want," Wright said.
Connell, sitting across A1A in an abandoned restaurant that has been converted into offices, says that's not what she or developer Jim Jacoby have in mind.
"We've gotten horrendous press as this big bad developer, but that's not who we are," Connell said.
Although no plans have been formally announced or approved, Connell says the land around Marineland will become an "Eco-village." She describes a dolphin therapy center for handicapped children, using four dolphins the company has leased from the attraction. Developers also are talking about a village around a town center, much like Seaside Village in the Florida Panhandle. And a refurbished marina.
Connell, a 38-year-old Florida native, hopes the Marineland park can stay open, but she worries how it will deal with the $9.7-million in bonds that it must repay.
"There's a question of what to do about the attraction," she says. "It's on the verge of bankruptcy."
She doesn't like the plan floated by Wright, LaPort and David Internoscia, the park's general manager. They want to levy Marineland's first-ever property taxes to help pay the bond bill. The only possible taxpayer in the city is Jacoby Development.
marineland
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