ORLANDO, Fla. – The onePULSE Foundation announced Thursday it will not renew the lease for the nightclub property, which hosts the memorial site for those killed in the shooting on June 12, 2016.
The nonprofit, established in the wake of the Pulse shooting to honor and preserve the legacy of the 49 killed, said the lease has now been turned over to the property owners. A statement issued by the foundation said this is due to the fact that the nonprofit’s founder Barbara Poma, who stepped down from her position in April, did not renew the permit on the site.
“We only recently learned that the Temporary Use Permit allowing for use of the leased property as an interim memorial had expired more than a year ago, on May 5, 2022,” the foundation said in a statement. “We were unaware of this development because the permit was granted to the property owner(s) and issued under Barbara Poma’s name.”
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The nonprofit went on to say “the permit is the responsibility of the property owners.”
This comes after the onePULSE Foundation announced in May that the National Pulse Memorial would be built on a different site after the nonprofit was unable to reach an agreement with Poma over the full donation of the property.
Due to this termination, onePULSE Foundation said it “has no legal authority to manage the site, nor handle its day-to-day care, and security.”
“As a courtesy, and to ensure a smooth transition in management, the Foundation has agreed to continue to pay the monthly operating expenses until August 31, 2023 and will also pay a pro rata share of the property tax for the current year,” the statement continued.
News 6 has reached out to the Pomas for a response and will update the story once we receive it.
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