Bro Bowl
Perry Harvey Sr. Park Skateboard Bowl | |
![]() Bro Bowl in 2016 | |
Location | Tampa, Florida |
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Coordinates | 27°57′18″N 82°27′20″W / 27.9550236°N 82.455622°W |
Built | 1978 |
NRHP reference No. | 13000811 |
Added to NRHP | 7 October 2013[1] |
The 'Bro Bowl' is one of the last remaining skateboard parks of the 1970s and the first public skatepark to be built in Florida. It is the first skatepark to be listed on any national registry of historic sites.
Located at Perry Harvey Sr. Park in Tampa, Florida, this facility opened in 1979. The Bro Bowl is a bank-style park more similar to the first generation skateparks of 1976-1977 rather than the late seventies parks which tended to focus on vert. What is also unusual about the Bro Bowl is that it was constructed as a free public skatepark during a time when most parks were private profit-driven ventures. In 1998, the Bro Bowl was featured in the fourth Birdhouse video, The End, starring Thrasher Magazine's pro skateboarder of the year, Andrew Reynolds. In 2010 the Bro Bowl became the subject of a documentary titled “The Bro Bowl: 30 Years of Tampa Concrete."
The Bro Bowl takes its name from its proximity to the city of Tampa's projects. In the early years it was common to hear skaters refer to the bowl as the place where the brothers riot. Over the years the press and even the mayor of Tampa have lost track of the history of the park and openly refer to the park by its colorful name.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 as the Perry Harvey Sr. Park Skateboard Bowl.[2]
It is apparently the first skatepark, world-wide, to be recognized on a national historic registry. The Rom, built in 1978 in east London, England, was the second; it became Grade II listed in 2014.
The skatepark was demolished as part of a renovation of Perry Harvey Sr. Park.[3][4]
References
- ^ "National Register Information System – Perry Harvey Sr. Park Skateboard Bowl (#13000811)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- ^ Bruffert, Shannon; Mattick, Barbara E. (August 2013). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Perry Harvey Sr. Park Skateboard Bowl" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 23 November 2019. Includes nine photos from 1980, 2007, c.1983, and 2013.
- ^ "Bro Bowl to be replaced by replica skate park at Perry Harvey Sr. Park". Tampa Bay Times. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- ^ "Tampa's skate community stoked as Bro Bowl 2.0 opens in Perry Harvey Sr. Park". Tampa Bay Times. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2020.