City of Tampa hires appraiser in negotiations with Memorial Park Cemetery owner

TAMPA, Fla. - The city of Tampa says it's currently negotiating with the new owner of Memorial Park Cemetery to buy the property.

The city planned to take ownership of the historic burial ground during an auction in January. However, its $9,000 bid was beat out by an $18,000 bid by the company 2715 West Sligh LLC.

Officials with the city say they met with the new owner for the first time in person on Friday.

The historic Black cemetery was established in 1919, and the city has maintained it since the owner died in 2019.

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"The city should have taken ownership at that time, but then when someone purchased it, it shined a light on it that there is a need in the city," said Yvette Lewis, the president of the Hillsborough NAACP.

The cemetery has thousands of headstones, including some belonging to World War I veterans, as well as unmarked graves. Lewis says many of her loved ones are buried there.

"These cemeteries need to be preserved and nothing should be able to disturb their resting peace, their sacred grounds," Lewis said.

She says she’s glad to hear of negotiations happening, but will not feel settled until the city takes ownership.

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"I think about Zion, how our loved ones saw their grave site being disturbed, and no one can say anything back then because of fear. But now we're speaking up, and we have a lot to say," Lewis said.

In a statement, a city spokesperson said:

"The current owner of Memorial Park Cemetery and city are far apart in what we think is a fair sales price, so we are hiring an independent appraiser to provide a valuation. That should take about four weeks. The bottom line is that no matter what, Memorial Park is forever protected from development, and the city of Tampa will make sure it receives the care and respect it deserves as a historic landmark."

FOX 13 reached out to the developer, Alex Arteaga. He said he cannot comment further but does plan to sell. He says after taxes, he’s paid about $30,000 on the property, so far.