The spring-fed Palma Ceia pool was opened in mid-1907 as a place for residents in the growing south Tampa area to get relief from the Florida heat. This 1920 photo shows young and old enjoying one of the two pools on the site. It and other area pools were promoted frequently in the newspaper by Tampa Electric as a destination to visit via their streetcars. The privately-owned property was also the site of consternation. In 1923, there were reports that the spring water contained typhoid bacteria, a Salmonella strain. Reports by city health officials later discredited that claim. In 1926, the pool was closed again, remodeled, and thoroughly cleaned. In 1930, the owner was involved in a dispute at the pool and was shot. He ended up with non-life-threatening injuries. By 1931, the pool had closed.

Ten-year-old Walter Valle drowned in the unattended pool in April 1935 while looking for tadpoles, resulting in charges that the property was a menace and demands from the community to have it drained. County Commissioner Fred Ball led the charge but ran into legal concerns. If the county foreclosed on the private property with a tax lien, it would prolong the draining of the pool. The owners and officials came to an agreement, and it was drained in May and eventually filled in. In 1947, the county purchased the property for $15,000 and named it after the then-chairman Ball. The site was turned into a recreation area. In 1989, the Rose Garden Club and the City of Tampa Parks Department spent $40,000 rehabilitating the park and unclogging the spring. After years of neglect, it came back to life. In 2019, the spring shown here was renamed the Victoria J. Pollyea Fountain after the civil activist for the Bayshore Gardens neighborhood association passed away.