TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Tallahassee City leaders advanced a potential sale of the Capital City Country Club.<\/p>\n
The City had been leasing the club to the current operators for decades, but now, they want to buy it from the city for $1.15 million. <\/p>\n
However, the golf course is home to dozens of unmarked graves of Black slaves.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s concern that the city can protect those graves while it owns the property, but they could be destroyed or developed over if the city sells.<\/p>\n
City Manager Reese Goad indicated a possible solution would be to use deed restrictions. <\/p>\n
Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox said not protecting those graves would be a dealbreaker, calling for permanent protections to ensure the cemetery will be preserved forever. <\/p>\n
The reason for the potential sale – the operator needs a line of credit to make improvements to the property and they claim they can\u2019t get it unless they own it.<\/p>\n
Delaitre Hollinger, a local activist and historian, said the golf course operators have done nothing to protect the graves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were sold in life,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should not sell them in death.\u201d <\/p>\n
He argued the city should not sell the gravesites at the very least.<\/p>\n
Mayor John Dailey was in support of taking the next steps to advance a potential sale, subject to assurances that the graves would be maintained.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Curtis Richardson has concerns about the potential sale, saying he wants to know why country club hasn\u2019t done much to protect the graves already. <\/p>\n
A representative from the golf course was not at the meeting.<\/p>\n
The Tallahassee City Commission voted 3-2 to advance the potential Capital City Country Club sale. Mayor Dailey and Commissioners Williams-Cox and Richardson voted in favor.<\/p>\n
Commissioners Matlow and Porter voted against, though both said they would support an independent appraisal to at least see how much the property is worth.<\/p>\n
The sale isn\u2019t final until the city receives assurances that the graves will be protected and the course won\u2019t be developed. The sale will be contingent upon another vote by the commission at a later time.<\/p>\n
At one point, Matlow asked a staffer if the course was leased to the private operator in the 1950s in part to keep Black patrons from a city owned course.<\/p>\n
The city staff said there were many reasons \u201cstated\u201d in the lease, but didn\u2019t provide a clear answer.<\/p>\n
Richardson asked city staff to bring back an update about what efforts the operator has made to preserve the graves without city input.<\/p>\n
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