Parks and Recreation FAQ

Congratulations on tying the knot! Our parks can provide a scenic backdrop to your special day, but if you are planning a large wedding or an extensive reception after the wedding, your event is better suited for a church, reception hall or another large indoor facility. Our parks are more appropriate for weddings of fewer than 100 people.

The weather is always a factor in planning an outdoor wedding. You should be prepared for all conditions and plan accordingly. We do not offer alternative locations or rain dates to be used in case of bad weather.

Find more information about weddings on the Special Events FAQ page.

We offer a discount on facility reservation rates to non-profit organizations currently registered in the State of Florida. No discounts are giving on other facility reservation fees, including but not limited to application fees, attendant or security fees, equipment, or damage deposits.

Your organization must submit non-profit documentation with the application form, such as a 501(c)3. Groups considered to be non-profit include: religious institutions, civic organizations, public schools, parochial and private schools, and athletic associations.

Depends on the type of permit you are seeking.

• Permit Instructor: contact our Contract Instructor Coordinator by phone at 813-274-8774 or email.
• Special Events: visit our Office of Special Events page for details regarding Special Event Permitting in the City of Tampa.
• Trees (pruning or removal): reach out to the City's Construction Services Department. 

We recommend our Parks and Facilities page. There you can search our Park Finder which provides you with a map view of our parks and the ability to select your desired amenities. We also have various amenities in a list format for your convenience.

A refund request must be received 30 days prior to scheduled date of use, except for illness or family emergencies, in which case proof must be provided, and the request must be received within 7 days following absence. Refunds are subject to a $15 processing fee. Daily refunds are not available.

An applicant seeking a refund will need to contact the facility that the transaction took place. Refunds will only be issued in the name and/or delivered to the person whose name(s) appear(s) on the original receipt. If payment was made by credit card, then it may only be refunded on the same card that was used for payment.

For more information on refunds, please review our Refund Policy. 

The Tampa Bay Film Commission can lead you through the process of getting the right permissions from various City Departments, whether you are planning to produce a music video, feature film, have a student project to complete, or are simply planning a still photography shoot.

Those that reside within the City of Tampa limits are considered to be residents. To check residency status you can visit the City Limits Map, enter your address, and it will let you know if you are a resident or not.

Another way to find out is to check your blue trash bin! If it has the City of Tampa logo, then you are a resident.

All of our sites, including our main office, accept cash, check, money order, and credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover). When paying with cash, please be aware that we do not accept bills larger than $20.

Please note that some of our contracted instructors collect their own fees. Therefore, payments will be made to them directly. Their accepted payment methods may vary.

Parents with any youth under 18 years of age are required to bring in the child's birth certificate (or other valid government ID) in order to verify their age.

In order to establish your family as a household in our system or to receive financial assistance, we require two recent forms of address identification.

The purpose is because we have different Rec Card fees based on your residency or to verify eligibility for financial assistance. The address identification items assist us in determining your residency status.

Yes. If you would like to reserve an athletic field for youth and adult games, practices, or other athletic events, please contact the Athletic Office at 813-231-5270.

The Athletic Office determines if games are called because of weather. Please call 813-231-5270.

We may have employment opportunities available. For a full list of employment opportunities, please visit the City's Employment Opportunity page. Summer employment opportunities are typically posted in January.

Yes; however each position requires a separate application. Additionally, certain positions require completion of a Supplemental Form.

When completing your Supplemental Form for a summer seasonal position, you may indicate one or more positions that you would like to be considered for.

Yes, you are required to bring a valid government-issued photo identification card.

Yes. All employees are expected to have reliable transportation to and from work.

Unfortunately, due to the large volume of applications we receive, only those selected for consideration will be contacted.

Welcome to the team! Yes, all City employees must participate in the Direct Deposit program. An active checking and/or savings account is required for direct deposit. You will receive more instruction on this during your employee orientation.

Yes. A new application must be submitted every year for summer seasonal positions.

For information on how to apply for a permanent or summer seasonal position, visit our Employment Opportunities page. There, applicants are able to check current openings and get notified of new positions that become available.

No; however parental consent is required for minors to complete the pre-employment drug screen test.

For a regular position, no. The position is assigned to a specific location where it is needed.

For a seasonal position, you may indicate a work site preference on the Supplemental Form, but applicants are not guaranteed placement at the facility of their choice.

You can update your contact info at any time through our Employment Opportunities page.

If you have been hired and your contact info has changed, contact your hiring supervisor immediately to update your information.

The minimum age requirements are as follows:

Any regular position - 18 years or older and must have a high school diploma, GED equivalency, or higher depending on the position

Summer Seasonal Lifeguard - 16 years or older

Summer Seasonal Recreation Leader - 18 years or older and must have a high school diploma or GED equivalency

Summer Seasonal Joe Abrahams Sports Camp youth positions - 16 years or older

For a complete list of benefits for full time employees, visit our Human Resources page. 

All employees, including part-time and summer seasonal positions, are covered under Worker's Compensation for any job-related injuries.

That depends. The City's Construction Services Department issues all permits for tree pruning and removal when required.

You may request your free tree by email or by calling 813-274-7733.

A tree emergency is considered a tree or tree limbs blocking streets and sidewalks. Call 813-274-5744 to report a tree emergency.

We established this program in 1997 to enhance neighborhoods and help sustain Tampa's urban forest and shade canopy. Request your free tree today!

Contact the Neighborhood Enhancement Division at 813-307-5513 to request the trimming and/or removal of trees within medians, City owned empty lots and alleys.

To request trimming or report trees on overhead power lines, please contact Tampa Electric (TECO) Line Clearance office at 813-223-0800 or 813-228-1111.

Our Forestry team does not have the proper certification to handle any trees on or near power lines.

Yes! We currently allow patrons to create an account online.

If anyone in your household has participated or reserved a facility with the Tampa Parks and Recreation Department since 2010, you should already have an established household in our system. If you are still not sure, you may ask a staff member to check to see if you are in our system.

We understand that it could be overwhelming to register for programs online. We have created an Online Registration Information sheet to walk you through this process. However, if you still need assistance, please feel free to give us a call at 813-274-8615.

Currently, you are required to come in or give any of our facilities a call if you would like to add a family member to your household. This is because of the proof of birthdate requirement.

If you have a family member that is no longer living in your home, you may notify a staff member in person or by phone. We will inactivate the member from your household.

If you have forgotten your password, you may request it from our Online Registration system. If that doesn't work you are welcome to submit an Online Request to reach our office.

When you log into your Online Account, under the "My Account" tab, and "Change Household Data" you will be able to update your email address, phone number, and emergency contact information.

Currently, once an account is created, we do not allow patrons to update their address or family member information online. To update your address, you will need to provide (2) valid proofs of your residential address that is current, dated in the last 3 months, and either provide it to our staff at any of our facilities, or you can submit an Online Request.

• Get information quickly and easily
• Browse activity listings
• Search activities by categories and age ranges
• View details about an activity (prices, dates, times, locations, activity description)
• View your purchase history, household information, and pull child care statements

There are no discounts on memberships offered and there are no military discounts on any of our passes.

• Seniors, regardless of residency status, can purchase a Rec Card at the resident rate.
• Teens, ages 13 to 19, receive free Rec Cards.

There are two ways to purchase Rec Cards: (1) visit any of our City facilities or (2) online.

If you would like to purchase online, you must have an account with us. Your account must have a valid email address and birthdate for the member for which you are purchasing the pass.

For assistance on purchasing online, see our instructions on How to Purchase a Pass Online.

If you are attempting to purchase a new Rec Card for a teen (13-19 years old) in your household, this must be done in person at any of our City facilities.

A Rec Card is an annual pass required to participate in most programs and activities offered by the Tampa Parks and Recreation Department. Additionally, the Rec Card also has some great benefits: use of open gym, fitness rooms, open swim and computer lab at community centers, and some classes at no additional cost. Materials and supplies, memberships, camps, clinics, lessons, classes, and/or instructor-led programs may not be included.

We offer both individual (starting at $15/year) and family (starting at $50/year) Rec Cards for all ages to residents and non-residents. A family is defined as a maximum of two adults and dependent children under 18 years old residing in same household. 

Rec Cards may be purchased online or in person at any of our facilities.

Currently we allow established households to purchase or renew:

• Rec Cards, Family and Individual, starting at $15/year
• Joe Abrahams Memberships, starting at $15/month up to $150/year
• Lap Swim Passes*, starting at $10/month up to $65/year

*Lap Swim Passes require purchase of a Rec Card

Typically yes. However, there may be instances when we limit registration to City residents only.

If we do offer our After School and Summer Camp programs to non-residents, we have different registration periods based on residency. To determine what your residency status is, visit our My Tampa Services map and enter your address.

If your address comes back as "Tampa" then you are considered a city resident. If it comes back as something else (i.e. Hillsborough or Temple Terrace) you are considered a non-city resident.

That depends on the program. For various reasons, some programs are not available for registration on our website and require you go to that facility directly.

If a program is available online it will say "Available". Please note that all participants must be registered in our software system in order to participate in our programs. Additionally, some programs require a Rec Card, which can be purchased online after you log in or create your online account.

Yes. We offer financial assistance to participants 17 and younger who are City residents and qualify financially. Applications are typically made available beginning in March.

We allow registrations online and in-person. However, we have certain registration periods for both online and in-person registrations as well as for city residents and non-city residents.

We strongly encourage you to register online during your assigned registration period as it can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week at your convenience.

We also recommend that you access your account online or if new to our programs create an online account prior to a registration period to make sure you are familiar with the website and Rec Cards, if required, are valid through the duration of the program.

We have different registration periods:

• Specialty Camps: Residents Online, Residents Online and In-Person, and Open
• After school participants: Open registration for existing, current after school participants
• Traditional Camps: Residents Online, Residents Online and In-Person, and Open

We strongly encourage you to register online during your assigned registration period as it can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week at your convenience. Additionally, we recommend that you access your account online or if new to our programs create an online account prior to registration to make sure you are familiar with the website and Rec Cards are valid through the end of summer camp.

Those that reside within the City of Tampa limits are considered to be residents. To check residency status you can visit My Tampa Services, enter your address, and it will let you know if you are a resident or not. Another way to find out is to check your blue trash bin! If it has the City of Tampa logo, then you are a resident.

Our registration software allows for a buddy system where you will be able to link siblings in the same household account. If one of your children is selected, the siblings will also be chosen, as long as they were linked at the time of the lottery enrollment.

Staff will contact families who have been selected by the lottery spin.

Typically we have priority registration for our After School and Summer Camp programs. 

For more information, please read our Priority Registration policy.

No. As long as there is availability, you may sign up your child for any summer camp location. 

The chances for selection is dependent on how many register for the lottery. Therefore, we cannot say what your chances are for selection.

Age starts at 5, where they must have turned 5 by September 1 of the current school year, through 12 years old.

There are two times a year we have a registration, After School and Summer Camp. However, registration dates will vary each year. We recommend following us on social media, and subscribing to Alert Tampa.

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• Alert Tampa

These do not apply to gymnastics and dance programs as they have their own registration schedule. Additionally, all other programs are "open" for registration as they come up.

Yes, you can make a reservation online. 

Yes. If you would like to reserve an athletic field for youth and adult games, practices, or other athletic events, please contact the Athletic Office at 813-231-5270.

Congratulations! Yes, we have several facilities available to reserve for your special occasion.

No; however, availability may be limited during peak season times. A picnic shelter may be used on the first-come, first-serve basis unless it has already been reserved. Reservations must be made a minimum of 3 business days in advance.

We have picnic shelters available throughout the city. We recommend you take a look at the park to find a shelter that will fit your group size, prior to contacting us. Check out our list of locations and shelters available for reservation. 

Should you need to contact our office you may call 813-274-8184 or visit us at 3402 W. Columbus Dr, Tampa, Florida, 33607. Office hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

The majority of our parks are available for rentals for gatherings. However, the size and details of the event will determine whether a particular park is appropriate for your event.

• For general reservation inquiries, please send us your inquiry via email.
• For picnic shelter or gazebo reservations, you can check online or contact the Picnic Shelter Reservation Office. 
• For our wedding venues: Ragan Center or Seminole Garden Center, please contact us through the Wedding Venue request. For River Center at Julian B Lane Riverfront Park, please send your inquiry via email.

There are two types of park/facility permits:

• A Facility Use Permit is required for any outdoor activity with an anticipated attendance of 25-300 or for any rental of a building or community center.
• A Special Event Permit is required for any outdoor activity with an anticipated attendance of 301 persons or greater, requires city services, street closures, and/or alcohol.