ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Pete City Council has approved an almost $400,000 project on the Gas Plant redevelopment property to find out if what they discovered in a report in 2024 are actually human remains.

What You Need To Know

According to the proposal from the ground truthing company, they’re going to excavate the area on the edge of Lot 1, hoping to figure out if the anomalies were debris or graves

City staff said that if remains are found, they will first alert the state and then try to locate the descendants

This will take place after the 2026 baseball season

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According to the report, there could be at least ten possible graves on the edge of Lot 1, which is used for Tropicana Field parking.

According to the proposal from the ground truthing company, they’re going to excavate the area, hoping to figure out if the anomalies were debris or graves. This area was home to three cemeteries, and even though it’s been said the graves were moved, many believe that isn’t true, and this excavation project could prove that.

University of South Florida anthropologist Dr. Antionette Jackson and her team have already taken a deep dive when it comes to cemeteries at the Gas Plant District property and surrounding areas.

The African American Burial Ground & Remembering Project is one of its latest projects. In it, a list of people once buried is listed.

“I was very happy that we were able to at least find 269, it’s more, but 269, where we have death certificates that identify them as being buried in Evergreen Cemetery,” Dr. Jackson said.

One of the people on that list is William Bradley, the grandfather of Patricia NiBlack-Jackson. Dr. Jackson interviewed her and other descendants as part of her research.

“It’s disgraceful, and it’s hurtful because our loved ones will never be forgotten by us,” NiBlack-Jackson said. “I had heard from my family that my grandfather was buried there somewhere.”

For decades it was reported that all the burials were relocated from the three cemeteries near Tropicana Field. Dr. Jackson said Evergreen Cemetery was predominantly Black. Moffitt started off as a cemetery for veterans and eventually became predominantly Black. And Oaklawn Cemetery was segregated by race.

All three cemeteries were condemned in 1926 before an apartment complex was built on the property in 1949.

“When things were happening, they were constructing the highway, constructing Tropicana Field, all these times they said, ‘Oh, those burials were moved, those graves were moved,’” Dr. Jackson said.

She says once coffins began to be found, some passed them off as anomalies.

Now, Dr. Jackson is watching closely with this new project announced at a city council meeting Thursday.

“The purpose of Phase 3, which is the upcoming contract agreement that was identified in the paperwork, is to now do the archeological investigation. Go down, see what are these anomalies. Are they grave sites or are they something else?” said City of St. Pete Planning Director, Derek Kilborn.

The ground truthing company Stantec used ground-penetrating radar to locate the possible graves and is the same company that will do the excavation for this project.

City staff said that if remains are found, they will first alert the state and then try to locate the descendants. It’s something Dr. Jackson has already started doing just a few feet away at Evergreen Cemetery. A place city leaders say they one day plan to do a similar project.

Dr. Jackson said the discovery of remains would only help confirm what many already believe.

“I mean, this is one layer of helping to confirm that. But we know that there were cemeteries there. I don’t need that necessarily extra, extra layer of proof. But I understand that if you can get that kind of evidence, more, that’s great,” Dr. Jackson said.

Her recommendation is for stakeholders to focus on identifying, locating and honoring the people who may still be buried there.

The property where the Oaklawn Cemetery was located is part of the Gas Plant Redevelopment District. Depending on what they find during the excavation, that could affect the plan going forward.

City staff said this will take place after baseball season. If the Tampa Bay Rays reach the World Series, this will get started after Oct. 23 and before if they don’t.