Veterans Memorial Park — Palm Bay, Florida

Veterans Memorial Park, at 2201 Port Malabar Blvd NE in Palm Bay, is a city park with a memorial area, a bathing lake, a lighted football field, lighted basketball and pickleball/tennis courts, pavilions and a playground.

The City of Palm Bay facility directory gives the address as 2201 Port Malabar Blvd NE, Palm Bay, FL 32905, with the phone number (321) 952-3443 and hours of 7am until 10pm (City of Palm Bay facility directory). Its amenity list runs to 19 items: lighted basketball courts, a bathing lake, benches, a concrete walkway, a lighted football field, free Wi-Fi, a gazebo, grills, mature shade trees, a memorial area, a multi-use field, parking, pavilions, lighted pickleball and tennis courts, picnic tables, a playground, rentals, restrooms and water fountains.

The name appears two ways in city records. The Palm Bay facilities inventory files the site as Veteran's Memorial Park, a Parks & Rec park at 2201 Port Malabar Boulevard NE (City of Palm Bay facilities list), while the recreation pages and parade notices use Veterans Memorial Park. Both point to the same Port Malabar Boulevard address.

Every November the Palm Bay Veterans Day Parade leaves the Tony Rosa Community Center, travels east on Port Malabar Boulevard and ends at Veterans Memorial Park, where the city points spectators to prime viewing areas.

The 2025 parade notice spells out the route: the parade kicked off at the Tony Rosa Community Center, proceeded east along Port Malabar Boulevard and concluded at Veterans Memorial Park, with prime viewing areas in front of the park (City of Palm Bay, October 27, 2025). That parade ran on Saturday, November 8, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., and spectators were told to arrive by 9:00 a.m. Port Malabar Boulevard was fully closed in both directions from Clearmont Street to Bianca Drive NE starting at 9:00 a.m., with the parade expected to end by 11:00 a.m.

Entry is open to groups at no charge. The same Palm Bay notice says local businesses, community organizations, military groups and clubs may join, that there is no registration fee for parade participants, and that sign-ups go through the Tony Rosa Community Center at (321) 952-3443 (City of Palm Bay).

The 2026 date is set. In his October 2026 message, Mayor Rob Medina announced the Annual Veterans Day Parade for Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 10:00 AM, again from the Tony Rosa Community Center east along Port Malabar Boulevard to Veterans Memorial Park (October 2026 Mayor's Message). In 2024 the parade was followed by an event in the park until 3:00 PM with food, drinks and entertainment (October 2024 Mayor's Message).

The parade has grown. Palm Bay Recreation Advisory Board minutes record 27 entries in the 2022 Veteran Parade (minutes, November 1, 2022), and in January 2024 staff reported that the previous year's Veterans Parade was the largest thus far (minutes, January 2, 2024).

Besides the parade, Palm Bay has used Veterans Memorial Park for its Patriot Day remembrance on September 11 and as a display site for military tribute banners.

The city held its annual Patriot Day Remembrance Ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, according to Mayor Rob Medina's October 2024 message (October 2024 Mayor's Message). A year earlier, the August 2023 Recreation Advisory Board minutes listed the 9/11 remembrance as the next event, to be held at Veterans Memorial Park, with staff working with the co-sponsor, the American Legion (minutes, August 1, 2023). The site moves: the 2026 Patriot Day Remembrance Ceremony on September 11, marking 25 years, was held at Sacrifice Park (October 2026 Mayor's Message).

Banners are the other tradition. The Palm Bay Military Tribute Banner Program displayed 38 different banners at Palm Bay City Hall and Veterans Memorial Park from Veterans Day through Memorial Day in its second year, according to the September 2022 Mayor's Message (September 2022 Mayor's Message). For the 2022 to 2023 season, banners honoring active-duty members and veterans with ties to Palm Bay were scheduled for display at City Hall, Veterans Memorial Park or Fred Poppe Regional Park. Sponsoring a 24 by 48 inch banner cost $110, and Gold Star families and new enlistments received theirs at no cost.

Veterans Memorial Park has four lighted combo pickleball/tennis courts open daily 7 AM to 10 PM, lighted basketball courts and a lighted football field used by the Palm Bay Youth Athletic Association.

The City of Palm Bay pickleball page lists Veterans Memorial Park with four outdoor lighted combo pickleball/tennis courts, open daily from 7 AM to 10 PM (Palm Bay Pickleball). That ties Fred Lee Park, at 895 Emerson Dr NE, for the most outdoor courts on the page; Ken Greene Memorial Park on Riviera Drive NE has one. The indoor alternatives are the four courts at the Ted Whitlock Community Center and three at the Tony Rosa Community Center, where a $2 daily guest fee or a membership applies.

The courts were resurfaced in 2023. At the November 2023 Recreation Advisory Board meeting, staff reported that the Veterans Park tennis courts had been completely resurfaced (minutes, November 7, 2023, page 2).

The football field has a regular tenant. The city athletic leagues page lists the Palm Bay Youth Athletic Association (PBYAA), the Palm Bay Pirates youth football and cheerleading program, at Veterans Memorial Park (City of Palm Bay Athletic Leagues). Other Palm Bay youth football groups play elsewhere: the Bayside Bears at Fred Poppe Regional Park and the Palm Bay Rockets Pop Warner program at Fred Lee Park.

Palm Bay's fee resolution for FY 2025-2026 puts the Veterans Memorial Park large pavilion with electric at $90 a day plus tax, and the five-year capital plan budgets $100,000 for a sun shade at the park.

Resolution 2025-31, which adopts Palm Bay recreation fees for fiscal year 2025-2026, groups the Veterans pavilion with Fred Lee #1, Goode, Knecht #1, McGriff and Pollak as large pavilions with electric at $90 a day plus tax (Resolution 2025-31, page 6). The city rentals page lists the same $90 class but does not name Veterans in it, so the Veterans fee on this page follows the resolution (City of Palm Bay Rentals).

Booking rules come from the Palm Bay rentals page. Reservations are first come, first served and generally accepted up to one year in advance, all renters are subject to pre-approval, and contracts are required (City of Palm Bay Rentals). Pavilions can be rented on all holidays, including Veteran's Day, unlike the community centers, and pavilions are available seven days a week from dawn to dusk.

The next upgrade is shade. The Palm Bay capital improvement plan for FY 2025 to 2029 lists a Veterans Park Sun Shade under Parks & Facilities, in priority category 1, Health & Safety, funded from General Fund 001 with $100,000 in fiscal year 2025 (Palm Bay CIP FY 2025-2029, page 5).

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the City of Palm Bay website, from the Veterans Memorial Park, pickleball, leagues and rentals pages.