PARKS & OUTDOORS
Sparkman Wharf
Hillsborough County · Gulf Coast
An open-air waterfront gathering place in Tampa's Channel District, built in 2018 out of the shell of the old Channelside Bay Plaza.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
Channelside Bay Plaza opened in the early 2000s as an enclosed shopping and entertainment center and steadily emptied out until it was close to abandoned. Strategic Property Partners took it on as part of the Water Street Tampa development, tore off a wing to open the building toward the water, and reopened the site as Sparkman Wharf on November 30, 2018. The layout is deliberately loose. A lawn of about an acre runs down to the channel, with games on it and a stage at one end for live music. A row of kitchens built inside old shipping containers lines one side, serving Spanish small plates, French and Vietnamese cooking, pizza and burgers among other things, with long communal tables and a beer garden in the middle. Loft-style offices sit above. Cruise ships dock across the water at the Port Tampa Bay terminals, Amalie Arena is a short walk away, and the Tampa Riverwalk and the TECO Line Streetcar both pass close by. There is no admission and most of it is outdoors, which makes evenings and the cooler months the easier time to go
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