Memorial Park Cemetery is a historically Black cemetery in East Tampa. We’ve done several reports about the importance of this cemetery to people who have family buried there.
Several members of the Belmont Heights community went to Tampa City Hall Thursday morning to show their support for making the Memorial Park Cemetery a local historical landmark .
For Noreen Copeland-Miller, designating Memorial Park Cemetery is personal. “Yes, I have 15 of my family members there,” said Copeland-Miller.
Copeland-Miller is just one of the many people in the Tampa Bay area whose family members were laid to rest in this 20-acre cemetery, which is why community members made their case to city council members to designate this cemetery, which was opened in 1919, a historic landmark of Tampa.
“The real historical part is this cemetery is the center of Tampa,” said Copeland-Miller at the podium to city council members.
The community is fighting to preserve this cemetery after it was forced into foreclosure by the city and sold to a private owner for $18,000. After pushback from the community, the city bought the cemetery for $100,000 last May.”