TAMPA, Fla. — Five years after archaeologists found nearly 300 graves from the destroyed Zion Cemetery under apartments and two local businesses, restoration plans for the site remain uncertain after records show two Tampa businessmen who own land top the site along N. Florida Avenue have resigned from the board working to restore the desecrated site.
Richard Gonzmart, who runs the famed Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, and Dennis Creech, owner of Sunstate Wrecker, own two-thirds of the land comprising Zion Cemetery. The rest of the cemetery sits under Tampa Housing Authority’s Robles Park Village apartments. 10 Investigates obtained records from 2022 that show Gonzmart and Creech told the Zion Cemetery Preservation and Maintenance Society they would no longer be part of the board.
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“The private businesses’ lack of participation is hindering the preservation society's efforts at restoring Zion Cemetery,” Tampa Housing Authority Chief Operating Officer Leroy Moore said.
Moore represents THA as secretary for the Zion Cemetery Preservation and Maintenance Society board, a nonprofit dedicated to re-establishing the land as a cemetery. The group also wants to erect a memorial and genealogical research center on the site which was erased nearly a century ago and later destroyed and re-parceled for redevelopment. The Tampa Bay Times first reported the possibility of graves in 2019.
To restore the site, the group needs the cooperation of all three property owners. The Tampa Housing Authority has agreed to donate the portion of its land containing the cemetery to the nonprofit. Gonzmart and Creech have not made promises on what will happen to their land.
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"All three owners are led today by individuals that were not part of that original sin…more reason, in my opinion, for those individuals to step forward and say, ‘I am doing my part in fixing what my predecessors disturbed," Moore said.
Creech told 10 Investigates over the phone that he would like to see the issue resolved but is waiting on the board to decide what should happen next. The Tampa Housing Authority asked if Creech would consider donating the small portion of his land that contains graves. A letter from his attorney shows he denied that request.
Creech said he would consider doing more, but said his business has nowhere else to go and that land in the surrounding areas is too expensive to relocate.
Gonzmart was unavailable for comment, but his resignation letter said, “I wish I could stay on and be of value to the Board, but due to running our many restaurants during these challenging times, trying to complete several ongoing development projects, and some periodic health issues, I feel I am unable to fully commit to the Board.”
For Moore and other members of the board, that news was disappointing.
“I know they both desire a resolution. They just have not engaged actively in coming up with that resolution. They have waited for others to come up with a solution for them,” Moore said. “I just don't think that's the appropriate position to take as a stakeholder, a stakeholder who owns a piece of land that was robbed from generations of Black families.”
Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. Like her on Facebook and follow her on X. You can also email her at emorrow@10tampabay.com.