Work begins to find historic cemetery at Trop site
March 26, 2021 - The City of St. Petersburg has hired an environmental firm to assess part of the Tropicana Field site to determine the location of an historic African American cemetery. University of South Florida researchers have said the site was home to St. Petersburg's Oaklawn Cemetery complex. As part of plans for redeveloping the Trop site, the city hired Cardo Environmental, Sophia Sorolis, the city's director of economic and workforce development, told the City Council Thursday. "They are embarking on doing an assessment of site starting today," Sorolis said. "We anticipate it will take two weeks and we want to be finished with the assessment prior to Rays opening day, April 9." The site is located west of the baseball stadium and west of 16th Street South, on a paved parking lot where Covid-19 tests currently are being conducted. The environmental firm is working around those tests.