As demolition begins on Robles Park Village in Tampa Heights, housing authority leaders vow that the hundreds of graves from Zion Cemetery that rest beneath a portion of the development will remain protected. "There'll be no disturbing of the soil there,” said Dan Coakley of PMG Affordable. “We already did the ground-penetrating radar to confirm that there's still people at rest there, so any work that we do in and around there will be supervised by an archaeologist, and will be highly, highly controlled." Zion Cemetery, which archaeologists found after a 2019 Tampa Bay Times investigative report, is underneath 32 of more than 400 units at Robles Park. Tampa Housing Authority COO Leroy Moore said demolition will happen in phases and there are no plans right now to disturb the buildings within the footprint of the cemetery. When the time comes to tear them down, he says it’s likely archaeologists will demolish a portion of the building with heavy machinery and use smaller tools to carefully remove the foundation as to not unsettle remains. Archaeologists have previously said they believe there are more graves under those buildings. The redevelopment of Robles Park Village was accelerated by the discovery of Zion Cemetery. Moore said the community was not slated for demolition and rebuild for another few years, but once archaeologists confirmed an intact cemetery on the site, THA moved the timeline up. In 2019, the housing authority began the process of relocating families living on top of the cemetery out of respect. Moore said it made sense to continue with the process for all residents and push for a faster redevelopment project. RELATED: Faces of Robles: How living on a forgotten cemetery changed their lives The housing authority has spent more than $125,000 on archaeological services for Zion Cemetery. It spent more than $70,000 on relocating the residents living in the units on top of the site. THA says upon completion, Robles Park will have a memorial and genealogy center for Zion Cemetery. The total cost is estimated at $7 million to $8 million. Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay News. Like her on Facebook. You can also email her at [email protected]. To read more about the search for lost African American cemeteries in the Tampa Bay area, head to 10tampabay.com/erased.