Tampa leaders work to acquire historic African American cemetery bought by developer during auction

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa City Council members said Thursday they would consider helping foot the bill for Memorial Park Cemetery after the historic African American burial ground was bought at auction seemingly while city leaders weren't paying close attention.

During its Community Redevelopment Area meeting, the council also confirmed Tampa Mayor Jane Castor's office is working on acquiring the 104-year-old property through negotiations with the developer who purchased it.

"The city made the mistakes and the city should handle it," Councilman Orlando Gudes said, placing the blame for the sale of the cemetery on Castor's office. "When you really care about something, you take care of it right then and there. But if you really don't want to give a...you really don't care, you don't put the muscle into it."

RELATED: Tampa outbid at auction, no longer owns historic Black cemetery

The city had placed a lien on the land, with the intent to purchase it at auction. After the city placed an initial $9,000 bid, a developer doubled that bid online and won.

Council members said they hope the city's executive branch could come up with the money to buy the land, but the CRA would consider assisting if necessary.

"I think there was a miscommunication between the [previous] owners [of the cemetery], the auction, the city on where it can go," said Councilman Joseph Citro. "I think the purchasers, it backfired on them because, under Florida law, they're going to have to maintain it. They're not going to be able to develop on it, so it's going to have to be up to the city and-or the CRA to be able to purchase that back so that the people that are buried there could rest in peace."

The council's CRA plans to address the issue again in May, at which point members hope to have a clearer picture about how much the land will cost.

FOX 13's attempts to contact the purchaser were not successful.