Clearwater approves $7.5 million FrankCrum settlement over erased Black cemetery as residents seek resolution

Clearwater's Community Redevelopment Agency on Monday approved a $7.5 million payment to the human resources company FrankCrum to settle a three-year lawsuit over hundreds of graves from an erased Black cemetery that remain beneath the company's downtown campus, ending the litigation but leaving unresolved what will happen to the people buried there.

The settlement, approved by the City Council sitting as the agency's board, came days before the case was set for trial. The agency said the payment is not an admission of fault by either side, and that because the land is privately owned, decisions about the remains rest with the property owner. Advocates for the descendants told council members they want the city to stay involved now that the lawsuit is over.

The settlement

FrankCrum sued the city and the redevelopment agency in 2023, arguing that the agency had told a previous owner of the property, in writing, that the land no longer held human remains, and that the city should therefore move the graves and pay for it. The city was later dropped from the case because it said it was not a party to the contract at issue, WTSP reported. The trial had been scheduled for the week of Oct. 5, and the parties reached a settlement at the end of September.

The money will come from the budget of the Downtown Clearwater Community Redevelopment Area, the special taxing district that includes the FrankCrum campus, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The agreement still needs court approval, which is expected in the coming weeks, WTSP reported.

In a statement before the vote, the redevelopment agency said the people buried at the former St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, and the families connected to them, had been "at the heart of this matter for years," and that the city recognizes the site holds generations of history. "We hope for a path forward that honors the families connected to this ground," the agency said.

FrankCrum said it agreed to settle "because we believe the city would continue to delay and deny responsibility for this problem." The company was sharply critical of the city. "Let's be clear, this is not a victory for the descendants of the people who were buried in the former St. Matthews Baptist Church Cemetery, and whose graves were nearly erased," its statement said. "This settlement might be a small step in the right direction, but it is one that the City and the CRA fought against for many years."

A cemetery that was supposed to have moved

St. Matthews Baptist Church Cemetery was a segregation-era burial ground for Clearwater's Black residents at what is now 100 S. Missouri Ave. In the 1950s, the land was sold to buyers who promised to move the cemetery, the Times has reported. Headstones were removed and the property was developed, but archaeologists later could find evidence that only 11 of the cemetery's 553 recorded burials had actually been moved.

The city bought the property in 1974 and used it for municipal offices. It later sold the site to IMR Global, a software company, under a 1998 development agreement with the redevelopment agency stating that the land did not contain human remains. FrankCrum bought the property in 2004 and has said it did not know burials remained there.

After residents who remembered the cemetery raised questions in 2019, FrankCrum allowed ground-penetrating radar surveys and excavations. Archaeologists confirmed at least 328 graves on the property, and say there could be more than 500. Most are under the company's paved parking lot, with some under Missouri Avenue and a sliver of its building, the Times reported.

The key events are listed below.

The city initially cooperated on finding a solution, but talks stalled after the death of former City Manager Bill Horne and the firing of his successor, Jon Jennings, according to WTSP. FrankCrum filed suit months after Jennings left.

A second erased cemetery in North Greenwood

Less than three miles north, ground-penetrating radar found graves at the site of a second historically Black cemetery at Engman Street and Holt Avenue in the North Greenwood neighborhood. Both cemeteries were supposedly moved in the 1950s, but community members have long questioned whether that happened. At least 55 graves have been identified there, the Times has reported. The land is now owned in part by the Pinellas County School District and in part by the Homeless Empowerment Program, a nonprofit.

Ashley Lowery, president and CEO of the Homeless Empowerment Program, told the Times the organization has not conducted any activity at the site since the graves were found and is "essentially awaiting guidance" on what to do. "We certainly recognize the historical significance of the cemetery and want to be respectful of the individuals and families connected to it," Lowery wrote. A school district spokesperson did not respond to the paper's request for comment.

What residents want

The Clearwater Colored Cemeteries Society, known as the 3C Society, has been working with genealogists to identify descendants of people buried in the two cemeteries and to search historical obituaries for burial records. The group has confirmed more than 800 people who were interred in the cemeteries, though it is unclear how many are still buried there, the Times reported. It hopes to create a memorial garden and tell the stories of Clearwater's pioneering Black families.

"It's an injustice that they've been disrespected while they were on top of the earth," said Diane Stephens, the society's president. "Now that they're dead, they're still being disrespected."

Members say the lawsuit kept the city at arm's length. The group has qualified for three grants totaling more than $100,000 from a state program created in 2023 to fund research and protection of African American cemeteries, but pays for its other costs through private fundraising or out of pocket. The city declined a request to write a letter of support for one grant, citing advice from its former city attorney not to do so during the litigation.

"That advice was about the legal process. It was not a judgment about the 3C Society or its work," city spokesperson Allie Chandler Baier wrote in an email to the Times. "We respect the work 3C Society is doing to identify the people buried at St. Matthew's, and we're grateful to the many community partners who have helped keep this history from being forgotten."

At Monday's meeting, Stephens put a simple question to the council: "Are you willing to really talk to us now?"

"When I became pastor, I inherited a lot of problems I wasn't responsible for," said Pastor Carlton Childs, a 3C Society member. "I know you guys weren't there when a lot of this happened back in the 1900s, but you're here now."

Council member Mike Mannino offered assurances that the city would keep working with the community. "I hope you trust in the fact that we will step up and find ways to move forward," he said.

"They've lost sight of the fact that we're just a bunch of community people, mostly retired, living on a fixed income trying to make things better for the next generation," said society member Patriva "Triva" Mack.

What's next

With the lawsuit resolved, responsibility for the St. Matthews graves now sits with FrankCrum. The company said it will hold meetings with community members in the coming months to develop what it called a structured, transparent and fair process for deciding the future of the graves. "We don't have the answers yet," the company said, "but we will keep you informed." It also said that "because the City's leadership refuses to lead, it will be up to our community to come up with a solution."

None of the businesses or property owners tied to either burial site has identified a specific plan to relocate the graves, the Times reported. In 2023, stakeholders and company leaders agreed that removing remains from beneath the FrankCrum building was not practical, and descendants' representatives said at the time that they wanted graves moved to the North Greenwood site. The North Greenwood land is controlled by the school district and the Homeless Empowerment Program, and residents told the council Monday that they do not want the city's involvement to end with the lawsuit.