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Speakers ask Tampa council to explore city purchase to protect Showman's Rest and other cemeteries
Summary
Public commenters urged the council to consider purchasing a parcel near Showman's Rest at Woodlawn Cemetery to preserve perpetual care and protect gravesites; a speaker asked a councilmember to propose a motion to study a city purchase.
Several members of the public used general comment to press the council to act on the sale of a parcel adjacent to Showman’s Rest at Woodlawn Cemetery, saying the owners hope to sell the land to fund perpetual care for the burial site.
Adrian Rodriguez asked the council to put forward a motion directing the city to investigate whether it can purchase the parcel at 30412 North Ola Avenue. Rodriguez said the parcel — the same that was the subject of a 2022 development fight — is not in the Community Redevelopment Area and therefore any purchase would come from the city budget rather than CRA funds. He urged at least one council member to propose a motion to let the city explore a purchase.
Rodriguez said the cemetery’s owners want to use sale proceeds to fund perpetual care for aging members of the cemetery’s community and said many long-time members of the group are elderly or have already died. He asked the council to “let them rest in peace.”
Separately, Michael Randolph used public comment to praise “unsung leaders” of West Tampa and listed neighborhood activists and community figures who he said preserved local services like the West Tampa library. Randolph’s remarks were an appeal to the council’s community-support role rather than a formal policy request.
Council did not take immediate action during general public comment; staff and council members acknowledged the time-sensitivity of cemetery sales and said the administration would need to determine funding options and legal constraints for any purchase, which might include state or federal historic-preservation programs.
Ending: Council members asked staff to coordinate with the administration to see what options exist for preserving historically significant cemeteries and to report back; no formal motion to purchase was proposed at the meeting.
