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City leaders to provide update on potential lost African American graves at Zion Cemetery

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TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa city councilors are expected to provide an update on the possible lost African American graves at Zion Cemetery at the city council meeting on Thursday.

Leaders are expected to talk about any actions they've taken at Zion Cemetery and the private property next to it, as well as any financial obligations the city has moving forward with the lost graves.

RELATED: More than 115 possible Zion Cemetery graves found on property owned by Columbia Restaurant Group

Just last week city leaders said they were already looking into ways to prevent this from happening again.

Zion Cemetery is believed to be Tampa's first African American Cemetery, dating back to 1901. More than 800 people are believed to be buried there.

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Hundreds of graves have been found. Some have been found on land owned by the Columbia Restaurant Group and others were found under the Robles Park Apartment Complex.

City leaders were originally supposed to also provide an update on the possible graves at the Memorial Park Cemetery but it was taken off of the agenda due to pending litigation. It's been moved to the March 5 meeting.

Thursday's meeting begins at 9 a.m.