Riverside Park, Vero Beach

Riverside Park is the City of Vero Beach riverfront park at 3200 Riverside Park Drive, with boat ramps, a playground, picnic shelters, tennis, a theater and a museum (City of Vero Beach Riverside Park facility page).

The City of Vero Beach counts Riverside Park among the parks inside its city limits, on a list that also names MacWilliams Park, Royal Palm Pointe, Jaycee Beach Park, Humiston Beach Park and South Beach Park (City Parks Information). The facility page carries two numbers, 772-567-2144 for the Recreation Department contact and (772) 231-4787 printed under the street address (Riverside Park facility page). The city splits the Vero Beach park into Riverside North Park and Riverside Park South, each with its own video on that page.

The public tennis courts are covered in the Riverside Racquet Complex guide. The city lists the tennis courts, tennis shop, theater and museum as park features (Riverside Park facility page).

Leashed dogs may use only the Riverside North Park side, north of Dahlia Lane, with the restrooms excluded (Riverside Park facility page).

Riverside North Park is one of three on-leash dog parks the city names, with MacWilliam Park and Royal Palm Pointe Park; the off-leash option is the separate Vero Beach Dog Park (City Parks Information). Resolution No. 2014-07, as the Vero Beach parks page sums it up, keeps dogs to each park's regular hours and on a leash of 8 feet or less, under control at all times; a dog has to be 4 months or older and carry its vaccinations and licenses, owners pick up waste right away, and any sign of aggression toward a person or another dog means the dog leaves the park immediately (City Parks Information, Resolution 2014-07).

Dahlia Lane is the dividing line to know in Riverside Park: the city restricts the on-leash dog area to the north park and excludes the restrooms there (Riverside Park facility page). The Grand Pavilion facility page lists an on-leash dog permitted area among its features and places that pavilion on the north end of Riverside Park (Grand Pavilion facility page).

The Grand Pavilion is three connected gazebos, one 25 feet across and two 21 feet across, that seat 75 to 100 people at tables or 150 in chapel rows (Riverside Park Grand Pavilion facility page).

The Vero Beach facility page places the Grand Pavilion on the north end of Riverside Park, with cupola ceiling lighting in each gazebo, and calls it ideal for weddings, banquets, luncheons and awards. Tables and chairs are not provided (Grand Pavilion facility page). The rental covers only the raised grassy area around the pavilion; roughly 40 feet of the flat, unimproved field around it, two rows of parked cars, may be used for parking, while using the large unimproved area takes an additional form and specific approval by the City Manager (Grand Pavilion facility page).

The Vero Beach city FAQ adds that cooking at the Grand Pavilion is prohibited, and that driving or parking on the St. Augustine grass that extends about 50 feet from all sides of the pavilion is strictly prohibited (City of Vero Beach Recreation FAQ). The 2026 Program Guide describes the Grand Pavilion as a large open air facility just south of the Barber Bridge, with electricity for a fee and a security deposit (2026 Recreation Program Guide). The two Vero Beach documents describe the spot in different terms: the north end of the park on the facility page, just south of the bridge in the Program Guide.

The Large Picnic Pavilion is a 30 by 60 foot roofed concrete slab with open sides, directly west of the restrooms and a drinking fountain in Riverside Park, with charcoal grills nearby and a volleyball court next to it (City of Vero Beach Recreation FAQ).

The Vero Beach facility page puts it just south of the Barber Bridge on the bank of the Indian River and gives 772-770-6517 for rental and rate information (Riverside Park Large Pavilion facility page). The FAQ calls it ideal for casual gatherings, barbecues and company picnics, and tables and chairs are not provided (Recreation FAQ). Parking for this pavilion is directly in front of it, in the spaces along the road that runs parallel to the Indian River (City of Vero Beach Recreation FAQ).

The City of Vero Beach posts electricity at either Riverside Park pavilion at $25 per day with a refundable $50 key and damage deposit, and sends renters to its Forms, Fees and Rules page for the base rental prices (City of Vero Beach Recreation FAQ).

Those figures come from the Vero Beach FAQ answers on private parties, bounce houses and the two pavilions (Recreation FAQ). The Riverside Park pavilions are the only covered rentals in city parks that allow alcohol, with an advance reservation, an alcohol permit and a deposit; alcoholic beverages are not allowed in any other City park (City of Vero Beach FAQ). The city Forms page lists an Alcohol Fee and Deposit sheet for the Grand and Picnic Pavilion dated 2026 and a Permit Application for Grand and Large Picnic Pavilion dated 10 01 2026 (Forms and General Information).

Bounce houses and water amusements are allowed only at Riverside Park, MacWilliams Park or Charles Park, set up on grass for up to four hours, and the vendor must supply a certificate of liability insurance naming the City of Vero Beach as additionally insured (Recreation FAQ). Payments are cash or check only, and refunds of deposits can take two weeks or more (Recreation FAQ).

A Riverside Park pavilion booking begins by phone at 772-770-6517, which places the date on the city calendar for one week; within that week the renter sets an appointment to hand in the permit form and pay the fees (City of Vero Beach Recreation FAQ).

The FAQ names four reservable sites in Vero Beach city parks, the two Riverside Park pavilions, Bethel Creek House and the Riverhouse (Recreation FAQ). All other park space is first come, first serve, and a group under 50 people with no special requests needs neither a permit nor a fee (Recreation FAQ). The city Rental Facilities page lists both Riverside Park pavilions with their own facility links (Rental Facilities). The city lists restroom hours of dawn to dusk, generally 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; for an event after hours, a restroom key is picked up beforehand at the Recreation Department, 2266 14th Avenue, against a $5 key deposit (City of Vero Beach FAQ). The Vero Beach community center and facility rentals guide covers the indoor halls.

The city's 1919 to 2019 history timeline records that the Merrill Barber bridge, built near the original wooden bridge, was dedicated and opened on February 19, 1951 (A Timeline of Vero Beach History 1919-2019).

The Large Picnic Pavilion page uses that crossing as its landmark, placing the pavilion just south of the Barber Bridge on the bank of the Indian River (Riverside Park Large Pavilion facility page). For the park's two arts buildings, the same Vero Beach timeline notes that the Vero Beach Community Theatre opened in Riverside Park in April 1973 and was renamed Riverside Theatre in 1976, and that the $2 million Center for the Arts building opened there on February 1, 1986, taking the name Vero Beach Museum of Art in June 2002 (city history timeline). Last verified: October 22, 2026, with the three facility pages (park, Grand Pavilion, Large Pavilion), both FAQ pages, the 2026 Program Guide, the Forms list and the city timeline opened again for this guide.