Marineland of Florida

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Marine Studios
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	Marineland, Florida
Built/Founded:	1937[1]
Architect:	John Walter Wood and M.F. Hasbrouch[1]
Architectural style(s):	Moderne style[1]
Added to NRHP:	April 14, 1986
NRHP Reference#:	86000831[2]
Governing body:	Private

Marineland of Florida ("Marineland"), one of Florida's first theme parks, is billed as "the world's first oceanarium". Marineland functions as an entertainment and swim with the dolphins facility, and re-opened to the public on March 4, 2006 (charging the original 1938 admission price of one dollar).

Marineland was first conceived by W. Douglas Burden, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Sherman Pratt and Ilya Tolstoy as an oceanarium that could be used to film marine life. A site was selected on the Atlantic Ocean south of St. Augustine, eventually known as the town of Marineland. Financing and construction presented challenges as Marineland was the first attempt at capturing and sustaining sea creatures. These challenges were overcome and on June 23, 1938, "Marine Studios" (the name "Marineland of Florida" would later be adopted) began operations with its main attraction as a bottlenose dolphin. Unexpectedly, over 20,000 tourists clogged Highway A1A to visit the new attraction.

Having the grandson of Leo Tolstoy involved in the project helped Marineland become a very fashionable destination in its early days, prompting writers Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, John Dos Passos, and Ernest Hemingway to visit Moby Dick's Bar located there. The park's facilities were very popular with tourists and also used for numerous movies, including Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and Revenge of the Creature (1955). Trained dolphins became an additional attraction by the 1960s as Marineland became Florida's undisputed top theme park, attracting over 300,000 visitors per year. The opening of Walt Disney World Resort in 1971 began the park's decline as tourist traffic migrated to the newer, more modern parks. However many people especially returning tourists continued to come to Marineland and attendance actually began to turn around in the late 1980s as the small feel of the park began to bring more tourists to the oceanarium. However several radical changes at the end of 1987 including the retirement of the historic diving equipment and a modernization of the dolphin shows began a downward trend in attendance that which Marineland would never recover.

Eventually, the maintenance demands, poor management as well as the poor attendance of the 50-year-old attraction became too costly for the real estate investment group who owned it at that time. The facility began to sink into disrepair as the owners desperately sought a buyer. Finally, through a convoluted deal involving junk bonds, the property was sold. The buyers planned to build time-share condominiums on most of the ocean hammock land but were unable to bring the plan to fruition. This effort resulted in bankruptcy for the new buyers of Marineland. In addition, the already-strapped oceanarium had been reconfigured as a non-profit foundation as part of the sale and was responsible for its own sustenance as well as repayment of the bond issue. Needed monies were not invested in repairs, and the shabby condition of the park offended even the most loyal fans. With no direct ownership, no funding, and the financial burden of bond interest payments, employees were left to cope with equipment failures, no marketing, loss of credit, bounced paychecks, government inspections and the custodianship of the marine mammals, fish and birds. During this era, many devoted individuals and businesses contributed materials and services to help employees keep the place going. In the end, the foundation repaid the bondholders pennies on the dollar, a large part of Marineland's dolphin population was sold off to Orlando, and the current owner came in and picked up the pieces.

Hurricanes Floyd and Irene in 1999 forced the park to close for two months. In 2003, all of the park buildings west of Highway A1A were demolished leaving only the original structures along the Atlantic Ocean. In 2004, the park closed completely for renovations, and re-opened on March 4, 2006.

During the renovations the original 1938 Circular Oceanarium (400,000 gallons) and Rectangular Oceanarium (450,000 gallons) were demolished. The age of the Dolphin Show at Marineland is now over as the park reopened as a hands on educational facility. Future plans for the area include a condo development on former park lands. The rest of the old Marineland property wound up in the hands of Flagler County and now make up the River to the Sea Preserve one of the County's many parks.

With a gift from Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney of slightly more than three acres of land together his donation of about half of the total constructions costs, on January 30, 1974, the University of Florida opened the Whitney Marine Laboratory adjacent to Marineland. This laboratory's purpose was the experimental study of marine animals but was separate from the lab that was once operated by Marineland.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Marineland of Florida website

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