TAMPA, Fla. — When the dead aren’t given the space to rest in peace, it’s the living that are impacted.

The work to restore lost burial sites takes time and money, and it’s rarely convenient for the people who live and work in the area.

Residents of the Robles Park Public Housing Complex in Tampa, Fla. found that out firsthand.

What You Need To Know

  • Residents of Robles Park were forced to move after an African American burial site was located beneath the complex

  • Tampa History Center historian Fred Hearns and Chief Operating Officer Leroy Moore helped form a committee to preserve the cemetery with a permanent memorial park, but so far, the only memorial is draped around the gate

  • Moore says they can’t move forward because part of the cemetery extends to two neighboring businesses

  • Initially, there was talk of a land swap with the city, but nothing has happened

Not only did the discovery of a cemetery beneath the complex force them to move, but years later, there still isn’t a proper memorial.

The mystery of Robles Park Village connects residents to the hundreds of people buried underneath the public housing complex.

“The cemetery went from here, all the way down to the fence line, which led to the street, so pretty much everybody’s back door was basically a cemetery,” said Israel Aponte, a relocated resident describing the layout of the discovered burial ground.

Aponte and his sons had just moved to Robles Park when archaeologists discovered the graves — quite the shock for more than two dozen residents, who were suddenly told they had to go. Most of them, like Aponte, were relocated by the Tampa Housing Authority.

“It was in a quick manner, because we had to be out of there within 60-90 days from the moment they told us, so it was pretty much a chaotic situation during that time,” Aponte said.

Chief Operating Officer Leroy Moore led the housing authority’s efforts to unearth what was underground.

“We didn’t know there were bodies interred here,” he said. “At that point, we thought they had been moved, but we knew we had a historic site.”

Today, the empty buildings, the road, the courtyard are all deemed sacred ground, with names that read like characters in a book. This place now belongs to them.

“You know, people say as long as a person’s name is spoken, a person still lives,” said Fred Hearns, a historian with the Tampa History Center.

Hearns and Moore helped form a committee to preserve the cemetery with a permanent memorial park. There’s even a design for it.

But so far, the only memorial is draped around the gate.

“This has been five years, and that’s five years too long,” Moore said.

Moore says they can’t move forward because part of the cemetery extends to two neighboring businesses. Initially, there was talk of a land swap with the city, but nothing has happened.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor insists that at least one deal is close.

“It takes time,” she said. “It shouldn’t have taken as long as it has and we can go down a list of reasons why it’s taken so long, but my focus is on getting it done as quickly as possible.”

Until there’s a deal, there will likely be no permanent memorial.

Moore says the group can’t get the grants they need without owning the entire cemetery.

“It’s very important to call these names,” said Hearns.

So after five years, they’ll eventually replace the banner with a new one, and wait for that lasting way to honor the names.