About 20 protest VCU paving project in Shockoe Bottom

A disputed tract of land in downtown Richmond that may be the site of a centuries-old burial ground for slaves and freed blacks attracted a flurry of attention yesterday.

About 20 student and community activists protested the repaving of a Virginia Commonwealth University-owned parking lot at 15th and Broad streets, saying a historic black burial ground was being desecrated.

Resurfacing the parking lot began Monday and continued yesterday.

"Now, without regard to the sacredness of the Africans buried here, and others, VCU will pave the site and utilize it for parking," said King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "No sane or rational people would allow this without a fight."

VCU bought the 400-space lot near its medical campus last summer and planned to repave it then, until about a dozen residents protested the project as a further desecration of a sacred site. A state archaeologist concluded in a report last year that most of the Richmond Burial Ground for Negroes was covered by Interstate 95 but that a portion extended about 50 feet to the east, under the parking lot.

In August 2008, the university decided to forgo use of a 50-foot-wide swath between East Broad and East Marshall streets in Shockoe Bottom so that a burial ground for slaves and freed blacks could be memorialized.

"We're not paving over anything that wasn't already paved; we've taken great lengths to make sure that we're not digging anywhere," VCU spokeswoman Pam Lepley said yesterday. "The group, obviously, takes issue with us repaving the part of the property that, according to the report, was probably not involved in the burial grounds."

Mayor Dwight C. Jones was out of the office and unavailable for comment yesterday.

Protestors say community comment and archeological digging is necessary to decide the future of the site and how it might be memorialized. Last September, the Slave Trail Commission held a public forum, attended by 30 people, about how the burial ground should be memorialized.

"We have just as much voice in how the city is shaped and what kind of city it becomes," said Ana Edwards, who says her ancestors include two slaves who were sold in Shockoe Bottom. "We should be able to tap into that history."

Some raised questions about the actual location of the burial site. Phil Wilayto of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality said "the only way to determine the real boundaries is excavation."

Wilayto is reiterating the findings of Michael L. Blakey, director of the Institute for Historical Biology of the College of William and Mary, who wrote a report last year that questioned the boundaries of the slave burial site.

VCU student Ja'Nel Edens disagreed with the university's decision to move forward with the repaving project. She said the burial site should be used as a teaching tool to enhance the black history of Shockoe Bottom and Richmond.

"I thought it was important [to speak out] because this is part of the history, the fabric, the makeup of America and we're ignoring it; we're denying what was here before," she said.

Lepley said the property set aside for the burial site is worth $450,000 and would produce $40,000 annually in revenue; she added that the university has no plans to further develop or sell it.

"I don't think we're actively selling it, but I think if someone wanted to buy it, it would be considered," she said.

According to city property records, the parking lot is assessed at $1.6 million.

Before yesterday's news conference, a vigil was held by the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality at the historical marker along East Broad Street commemorating slave rebellion leader Gabriel, who was executed nearby on Oct. 10, 1800.

Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or .