Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in Hillsborough County, Florida

Photograph: Curtis Hixon Park Tampa Florida United States - panoramio (3).jpg by Michelle Maria · CC BY 3.0 · Restored from the credited Wikimedia Commons file, normalized to the consistent attraction-card frame and converted to WebP by 1stFlorida.com. Portrait originals retain their complete composition over a softly blurred extension of the same photograph.

Hillsborough County attraction

Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park

Hillsborough County · Gulf Coast

An eight-acre park on the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa, opened in 2010 on the site of the city's first convention center.

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa's first convention center, stood here from 1965 until it was demolished in 1993. A smaller park held the ground afterward, and the present version opened in 2010 after landscape architect Thomas Balsley reworked the space to open the view from Ashley Drive clear across to the river. It covers about eight acres. The centerpiece is a broad lawn that tilts gently down toward the water, and everything else works around it: a playground, fountains, sculptures, a small amphitheater, shaded pavilions, a public boat dock and a concession kiosk with restrooms. A garden designed by Dan Kiley sits at one edge. New dog parks opened in February 2026. The Tampa Riverwalk runs straight through, the Tampa Museum of Art and the Glazer Children's Museum sit on either side, and the minarets of the University of Tampa stand directly across the water. The lawn is in use many weekends, with concerts, music and food festivals, craft shows, evening yoga and a temporary ice rink in winter. On an ordinary weekday it is simply a quiet place to sit by the river

GETTING THERE

Get Directions ↗Official Website ↗

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