Bro Bowl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Perry Harvey Sr. Park Skateboard Bowl
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Bro Bowl in 2016
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 Location in Florida
Location in the United States
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| Location | Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
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| Built | 1978 |
| NRHP reference No. | 13000811 |
| Added to NRHP | October 7, 2013 |
The Bro Bowl was a very special skateboard park in Tampa, Florida. It was one of the last skateparks built in the 1970s that was still around. It was also the first public skatepark ever built in Florida. What makes it even more unique is that it was the first skatepark in the world to be listed on a national list of historic places!
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What Made the Bro Bowl Special?
The Bro Bowl opened in 1979 inside Perry Harvey Sr. Park. It was designed as a "bank-style" park. This means it had sloped surfaces, like ramps, but not super tall ones. This design was common for the very first skateparks built around 1976-1977. Later parks often focused on "vert" skating, which uses very tall, vertical ramps.
A Free Skatepark for Everyone
Most skateparks back then were private businesses. You had to pay to get in. But the Bro Bowl was different! It was built as a free public skatepark. This meant anyone could come and skate without paying. This made it a popular spot for many years.
Featured in Skate Videos
The Bro Bowl became famous in the skateboarding world. In 1998, it was shown in a popular skate video called The End. A famous pro skateboarder, Andrew Reynolds, skated there. Later, in 2010, a documentary film was made about the park. It was called “The Bro Bowl: 30 Years of Tampa Concrete.”
Why Was it Called the Bro Bowl?
The skatepark got its name because it was close to a part of Tampa with many public homes. Skaters in the early days would sometimes call it the place where the "brothers" (meaning friends or people from the community) hung out. Over time, this nickname became very well known. Even the mayor of Tampa and the news often called it the Bro Bowl.
A Historic Landmark
The Bro Bowl was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Its official name on the list was the Perry Harvey Sr. Park Skateboard Bowl. This was a huge deal because it was the first skatepark anywhere in the world to get this kind of historic recognition! Another famous skatepark, The Rom in England, was listed as historic in 2014, but the Bro Bowl was first.
Its Final Days
Sadly, the Bro Bowl was eventually taken down. This happened as part of a big project to make Perry Harvey Sr. Park new and improved. Even though it's gone, its history as a groundbreaking public skatepark and a historic landmark lives on.
