Fred Lee Park — Palm Bay, Florida

Fred Lee Park, at 895 Emerson Dr. NE in Palm Bay, is a lighted athletic park with a softball field, a multi-purpose field, tennis and basketball courts, two rental pavilions and a shaded playground.

The Palm Bay parks directory lists the park at 895 Emerson Dr. NE Palm Bay, FL 32907 and names its amenities in one run: lighted basketball courts, benches, electricity, grills, a memorial area, a lighted multi-purpose field, parking, pavilions, picnic tables, a shaded playground, rentals, restrooms, a lighted softball field, tennis courts with lights, and water fountains (City of Palm Bay parks directory). The city facility page for Fred Lee Park gives hours of 7am until 10pm (City of Palm Bay facility page, Fred Lee Park).

The PlayOnline reservation listing for the park's main pavilion describes the grounds a little differently. Amenities at Fred Lee Park include: baseball fields, basketball courts, football field, grills, memorial area, restrooms, shaded playground, softball field, tennis courts, and water fountains, according to that listing (PlayOnline, Fred Lee Pavilion #1). The directory does not list a separate football field, while the City of Palm Bay athletic leagues page lists the park as the home of its Pop Warner football partner.

The City of Palm Bay lists two community partner leagues at Fred Lee Park: the Palm Bay Rockets Pop Warner football and cheerleading program and Palm Bay Fast Pitch youth softball.

On the Palm Bay Recreation athletic leagues page, the football and cheerleading entry reads Palm Bay Rockets - Pop Warner Football and Cheerleading Fred Lee Park, and the softball entry reads Palm Bay Fast Pitch (PBFPLL) - Youth Fast Pitch Softball Fred Lee Park (Palm Bay athletic leagues). The same page sends other Palm Bay sports elsewhere: the Bayside Bears play football at Fred Poppe Regional Park, the Palm Bay Pirates at Veterans Memorial Park, and Palm Bay East Little League baseball at Knecht Park. For the Rockets, the city page directs families to email the league or visit the Palm Bay Rockets website for more information; the Fast Pitch entry lists a volunteer president only.

Fields that partner leagues are not using can be rented through Palm Bay Recreation. Ballfield Rentals must be approved by the Athletics Supervisor, and organized practices or games require liability insurance, according to the city rentals page (City of Palm Bay rentals page). The rates come from the recreation fee schedule the Palm Bay City Council adopted as Resolution 2025-31 for fiscal year 2025-2026 (Resolution 2025-31, page 7):

The lighted softball field and multi-purpose field at Fred Lee Park are what make the light fee relevant there: a two-hour evening rental with lights costs $90 plus tax at the listed rates (2 hours at $15 plus 2 hours at $30). The Palm Bay rentals page gives the same $15 and $30 hourly figures.

Palm Bay demolished the Fred Lee Park tennis courts for a rebuild by January 2024, backed by $235,000 in secured funding, and in November 2024 named the park as a candidate site for eight pickleball courts.

The Palm Bay Recreation Advisory Board minutes trace the project. At the October 2023 meeting, the recreation director explained that Fred Lee Park was renovating with new tennis and pickleball courts (Recreation Advisory Board minutes, October 2023, page 3). In November 2023 the board heard that funding was secured in the amount of $235,000 to redo tennis courts at Fred Lee Park (minutes, November 7, 2023, page 2). By the January 2, 2024 meeting, the parks report said the courts had been demolished, ground testing showed no concerns, and the courts should be complete in approximately two months (minutes, January 2, 2024, page 2).

The pickleball question came back in late 2024. At the November 12, 2024 meeting, staff from the Parks and Facilities and Recreation departments reported preliminary conversations with Kimley-Horn, consulting engineers, on the probable cost of eight courts each at Fred Lee Park, Nungesser Park and Veterans Park, plus a 32-court tournament complex at Fred Poppe Regional Park built in two phases (minutes, November 12, 2024, page 1). Findings were to go to the Palm Bay City Council on December 19, 2024. No council decision on the Fred Lee Park courts was located during this check, and the current Palm Bay parks directory lists tennis courts, not pickleball, among the park's amenities.

Fred Lee Park has two rental pavilions: Fred Lee #1, a large pavilion with electric at $90 a day plus tax, and Fred Lee #2, a standard pavilion without amenities at $50 a day plus tax.

Palm Bay Recreation's rentals page places Fred Lee #1 in the $90 large pavilion class with Goode, Knecht #1 and McGriff, and lists Standard Pavilion Rentals without Amenities (Castaways #2, Driskell, and Fred Lee #2) are $50 a day plus tax (City of Palm Bay rentals page). Resolution 2025-31 carries the same two rates in both its FY 25 and FY 26 columns (Resolution 2025-31, page 6), so neither Fred Lee Park pavilion changed price when the new fee year began on October 1, 2025.

The PlayOnline page for Fred Lee Pavilion #1 adds the details a renter needs. The pavilion seats approximately 48 people and has a grill, and electricity is included in the rental fee (PlayOnline, Fred Lee Pavilion #1). The same listing blocks bookings over 50 people, closes online reservations 5 days before the date, opens them 365 days ahead, and ends rentals by 8:00 pm from March through October and by 5:00 pm on Sundays and from November through February.

Fred Lee Park's sunshades were replaced in 2023. The Parks Division report in the November 7, 2023 Recreation Advisory Board minutes stated that the Fred Lee Park sunshades have been replaced (minutes, November 7, 2023, page 2), and the current parks directory lists the playground at the Emerson Drive park as shaded.

Fred Lee Park is run by the City of Palm Bay Recreation Department, and two city pages give two different phone numbers for it.

The Palm Bay parks directory and the city facility page both list (321) 952-3443 for Fred Lee Park (City of Palm Bay facility page, Fred Lee Park), the same number the rentals page gives for the Tony Rosa Community Center (Palm Bay rentals page). The PlayOnline listing for Fred Lee Pavilion #1 instead prints (321)952-3234 under the park's location details (PlayOnline, Fred Lee Pavilion #1). Both are shown here as each page states them.

Night use at the park has come up at the board level as well. During the January 2, 2024 Recreation Advisory Board meeting, a member pointed to outdoor lights at many Palm Bay parks, naming Veterans Park, Liberty Park and Fred Lee Park, while asking for lights at the Fred Poppe Regional Park basketball courts (minutes, January 2, 2024, page 3). The city facility page lists the park's hours as 7am until 10pm.

Fees, hours and amenities on this page come from the City of Palm Bay parks directory, the rentals page, the PlayOnline listings and Resolution 2025-31. Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the City of Palm Bay Recreation, athletic leagues and PlayOnline pages.