The town received a Clinton administration community policing grant of $167,000 (USD) in order to hire ten full and part-time police officers. From the receipt of the grant to 1997, residents complained about the officers issuing traffic tickets, especially for speeding. In November 1997, four police officers, including Police Chief Kendall Alsobrook, left the police force, and the department's staff was reduced to one full-time officer. Peliklakaha's rediscovery In 1998, archaeologists from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida began the first excavation of a black Seminole village in a pasture about two miles from Center Hill. The researchers hoped to determine the town's social structure and the former residents' lifestyle. The investigators found dozens of artifacts, including iron pieces, stoneware, glass beads, nails, and pottery. Historians believe that over 100 black Seminoles lived in Peliklakaha, the largest known black Seminole village. Historians also believe that Peliklakaha was rebuilt after Abraham was among the first Seminoles and black Seminoles to be transferred to a reservation in the west. 2000s On July 31, 2001, a 500-pound (227-kilogram) Siberian tiger named "Tie" fatally attacked Vincent Lowe, a worker at the Savage Kingdom exotic animal park who was attempting to earn state certification to work with the cats, while Lowe was repairing the cage. The tiger burst through his cage and pounced on Lowe before Lowe could fire his pistol at the tiger. Park owner Robert Baudy shot the cat. The incident was the second one in park history. The first was in March 1997 when another Siberian tiger escaped from its cage and mauled a worker before being killed by members of the Sumter County Sheriff's Department. In February 1999, state game officials discovered substandard cage wiring; the ranch corrected the issue by May 1999, the last inspection before the incident. On July 6, 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture ordered that Savage Kingdom's license be revoked permanently. Geography Center Hill is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (3.39%) is water. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 909 people, 282 households, and 212 families residing in the city. The population density was 531.8 inhabitants per square mile (205.5/km2). There were 319 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 79.9% White, 6.7% African American,