Ballard Park in Melbourne, Florida

Ballard Park, 924 Thomas Barbour Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935, is a city-run community park set on the Eau Gallie River.

The city's park listing names these Ballard features: picnic tables, a playground, a basketball court, a boat ramp, a pavilion, a tennis court, a grill and benches, with a tennis facility of 2 hard courts and a practice wall (City of Melbourne Ballard Park listing). Last verified: October 21, 2026, by rereading the Ballard listing, the city tennis and pavilion pages, the parks page lists, two sections of the park code and the 2025 Year in Review, comparing each fee, hour and phone number with the city's wording.

Yes, the city lists a boat launch at Ballard Park without the non-motorized label it gives the Riverview and Horse Creek launches.

The city parks page lists boat launches at Ballard Park, Claude Edge Front St. Park, Horse Creek Park and Riverview Park, and it marks only Horse Creek and Riverview as non-motorized (boat launch list on the Melbourne parks site). On that list, Ballard is the launch on the Eau Gallie River; the Claude Edge Front Street Park guide and the Riverview Park guide on Digital Towns cover the downtown ramp and the paddle launch. Ballard does not appear on the city's fishing pier list, which names only Claude Edge Front St. Park and the Eau Gallie Pier.

Ballard's hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the city listing set the window for launching and hauling out at the Eau Gallie ramp (Ballard Park listing). The Eau Gallie River environment guide on Digital Towns explains the river the ramp opens onto.

No, the city says no reservation is needed for tennis at Ballard Park and there is no charge to use its courts.

That sets Ballard apart from the Fee Avenue Tennis Complex at 114 Fee Avenue, the city's main tennis site, which has 15 courts, takes reservations at 321-608-7440 and charges by two-hour block (City of Melbourne tennis page). The table below sets the two Melbourne tennis options side by side using only the figures on the city page.

Players who want lessons, leagues or clay courts in Melbourne use Fee Avenue, where the city page lists adult and youth classes and league play through the USTA or the Space Coast Tennis League (Melbourne tennis page). The Melbourne pickleball and tennis guide on Digital Towns covers those programs in more depth.

The weekend gap matters for Eau Gallie players. Fee Avenue courts close at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays under the city's posted court hours, while the Ballard Park listing gives park hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the tennis page sets no separate court hours for Ballard (Melbourne tennis page; Ballard Park listing).

Yes on both counts: the city lists Ballard Park among its lighted outdoor basketball courts and among its parks with playgrounds.

The Melbourne parks page marks the outdoor basketball courts at Ballard Park, Brothers Park, Carver, the Eddie Lee Taylor, Sr. Community Complex and the Tim Wakefield Sports Complex as lighted (Melbourne parks overview). Ballard is also the first park named on the city's playground list.

Pets can come along under the citywide park code. A dog at Ballard needs a leash no longer than 15 feet, its handler cleans up after it, a posted sign can override the general permission, and indoor recreation buildings and the city golf courses stay closed to all but service animals (city code, sec. 42-17).

Ballard Park pavilions are reserved by calling 321-608-7400 at the Eau Gallie Civic Center, and serving alcohol at a Melbourne park event needs a separate city permit.

The pavilion page lists Ballard Park with the note that only the large pavilion is lighted, takes those calls on weekdays between 8:30 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon, and prices pavilions by size before tax: small $35 for residents and $42 for non-residents, medium $50 or $60, and large $80 or $96 (Melbourne pavilion rental rules and prices). Paperwork and payment are due 14 days ahead for a private event and 30 days ahead for a public event, and staff confirm where electricity and grills are available and any added fees. The booking office is the civic center building at 1551 Highland Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32935 (Melbourne rental facilities directory).

Beer or wine at a Ballard birthday or reunion is legal only under a city alcohol permit. The code asks the applicant to explain how minors will be kept from drinking, lets staff set a deposit that cannot top $250.00, and caps each permit at a single event of 24 hours or less (city code, sec. 42-10).

Another city rental sits on Highland Avenue, the same street as the booking office: Eau Gallie Square, a small park with large oak trees at the corner of Highland Avenue and Eau Gallie Boulevard, which has a small lighted amphitheater with electricity and carries a rental price of $200 resident or $240 non-resident (pavilions and gazebos page). Reservations for it run through that same civic center phone number.

In 2025 Ballard Park gained a new restroom building paid for with American Rescue Plan Act money, served by a city lift station on Terry Drive that was replaced the same year.

According to the city's annual report for 2025, new restroom facilities were built at Front Street Park and Ballard Park with American Rescue Plan Act funding, that both buildings are well lit inside and out, and that each has electric hand dryers and new water fountains on the outside (Melbourne's 2025 annual report to residents). The same report lists Lift Station 35, located on Terry Drive, among three lift stations replaced in 2025 and says it serves the new restroom facility at Ballard Park; the city states that it replaces its lift stations every 20 to 30 years.

Volunteers also worked the Ballard shoreline. On September 20, International Coastal Cleanup Day, 39 volunteers cleaned up 477 pounds of trash at Ballard Park in Melbourne, according to the Year in Review, the same report in which the city notes that its parks department became nationally accredited through CAPRA and the NRPA during the year (2025 Year in Review). Problems at the park, from a broken bench to a restroom issue, are reported to Parks Maintenance on 321-608-7470 (Melbourne parks overview).