Next door to the Tampa Garden Club is a Tampa City Park. A focal point of the Fred Ball Park, the romantic gazebo is surrounded by old fashioned roses. The gazebo has sprung up in the park, thanks to the Rose Garden Circle's efforts and contributions from businesses. The circle spent more than $12,000 on the original project in the 1980s, and the city parks department supplied labor, plants and materials. The Rose Circle, a member of the Tampa Garden Club,  continues to support the park through numerous projects and regular gardening days.

The park is named after Mr. Fred Ball who served Tampa and Hillsborough County for 24 years in local government. He was also Executive Secretary of the West Coast Inland Waterway Commission. Mr. Ball died in 1958.

Look closely and you will see the inscription in the wall of the park fountain, "Palma Ceia Spring, 1906. Here is Jim Ferman's account of the Fred Ball Park area from his own  memories. (Tampa Tribune 4-28-91)..

   "During the [Florida real-estate] boom, around 1927 or 1928, a developer built a large Venetian swimming pool of an oblong nature that was just behind  the spring and away from the Bayshore. It was a beautifully colorful addition, with umbrellas and chairs and a generous supply of multicolored striped pilings. The pool was eventually filled in when the flow from the spring was not enough to keep the pool healthy."

Palma Ceia Spring about 1925. (below)

Palma Ceia Pool about 1925. (below)

 Hampton Dunn Collection - USF Library

  Hampton Dunn Collection -USF Library

Even a summer stormy sky affords a lovely view from the Park. Fred Ball Park is located on the corner of the Bayshore Boulevard and Rubideaux St., directly across from the Tampa Garden Club.