HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — St. Petersburg City Council members are set to take a closer look at a survey that revealed there may be graves on the site of Tropicana Field.
Unmarked graves have been found throughout the years, but a recent ground-penetrating survey shows there may be ten more graves beneath the Trop. This survey is bringing the issue back to the forefront of people's minds.
For Council Member Corey Givens Jr, this is personal.
WATCH St. Pete leaders set to discuss graves found under Tropicana Field site
“I have a great-great-grandfather who may or may not be buried underneath the parking lot at Tropicana Field, so for me, it means having answers to questions that have existed in my family for decades,” Givens Jr. said.
He said there are other residents in St. Pete who may have descendants buried beneath the Trop, and that he is committed to doing the right thing with this site moving forward.
Givens Jr. and other city council members will review this survey closely and discuss the next steps.
The ground-penetrating radar survey was conducted on what used to be known as Oakland Cemetery, which was established in 1905 and subsequently condemned in 1926. Oaklawn was a segregated cemetery, but it is surrounded by other cemeteries that were predominantly African American.
Dr. Antionette Jackson from the Black Cemetery Network is also weighing in on the report.
She said she hopes the city can acknowledge the lives and history that exist under the Trop.
“Going forward, I want the city to take responsibility and work with the descendant communities, work with redevelopment efforts to make sure going forward this is acknowledged,” Dr. Jackson said.
The meeting starts at 9 am.
Honoring the Fallen: Community gravestone cleanup brings out patriots
More than 50 people walked the rows of the cemetery searching for gravestones that belonged to veterans. Spray bottles were in hand, and they went to work.
