Clubhouse

The first Lawn Bowling "Clubhouse" in St Petersburg Fl. was a tent that A. J Mercer brought from Toronto Canada, together with two pairs of bowls late in 1916.  St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club is a historic site in St. Petersburg, Florida.  On July 9, 1980, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The Club was constructed by the City in 1917 at the behest of Al Mercer, a regular visitor to the city from Toronto, Canada who suggested the use of Marl-surfaced roque courts in St. Petersburg as bowling rinks. The grasses used for lawn bowling did not thrive in Florida, and the Marl of the roque court - a game similar to croquet - seemed to offer a suitable alternative surface.

The St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club's facilities included not only the rinks and buildings, but also a 2,500 book library. Originally, there were only two bowling rinks at Mirror Lake. In 1912, the number was increased to nine rinks and six more were added in 1926 when the women bowlers formed a separate organization and eventually the number of rinks was increased to twenty-five. Many of these were eliminated with the construction of the Sunshine Center in the late 1970s. The clubhouse was enlarged in 1928 and a new clubhouse was built in 1933.