ORLANDO, Fla. – As the city of Orlando moves forward with efforts to create a permanent memorial for victims of the Pulse shooting in 2016, survivors and family members of the victims have long waited for a permanent memorial.
Here’s a breakdown of where things stand now and how they’ve come to this point.
onePulse Foundation
The nonprofit onePulse Foundation was established in the wake of the shooting to honor and preserve the legacy of the 49 people who were killed on June 12, 2016.
The nightclub site was turned into a temporary memorial and efforts were underway to build a more permanent museum and memorial. The original project unveiled in 2019 by the onePulse Foundation originally called for a museum and permanent memorial near the nightclub.
However, the Pulse property was owned by Barbara and Rosario Poma and businessman Michael Panaggio. Barbara Poma was the executive director of the onePulse Foundation. She eventually stepped down as executive director in 2022.
OnePulse Foundation said in May 2023 there had been months of negotiations between the nonprofit and Barbara and Rosario Poma and Panaggio for the full donation of the property.
“Earlier this year we informed the Foundation, both verbally and in writing, that we made the decision to donate our share of the property. However, our partner, who owns the remaining parcel, chose not to donate his share. We have no control over his business decisions. As a result, we were unable to satisfy the Foundation’s requirement for the full donation of the property,” Barbara Poma had said in a statement to News 6.
And because they were unable to reach an agreement, the onePulse Foundation announced the National Pulse Memorial would be built elsewhere.
[RELATED: TIMELINE: Efforts to create a Pulse memorial]
Months later, the City of Orlando said it would purchase the Pulse Nightclub property for $2 million to takeover efforts to solidify a permanent memorial.
City of Orlando steps in, takes over memorial efforts
In October 2023, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said calls from family members helped convince the city to enter into an agreement to purchase the Pulse property on Orange Avenue.
“We’ve had a number of meetings with families and other survivors, and there’s real turmoil about what’s going to happen in regards to that,” Dyer said. “The onePulse Foundation had made it clear that they were moving off of that site. And we think it’s important to let families and the victims know that the memorial will be on that site.”
It’s not the first time the city has sought to purchase the property since the shooting, one of the deadliest in American history. Dyer said the city sought to buy the property after the shooting for $2.2 million, but the owners of the property decided not to sell and set up the onePulse Foundation instead.
The city said at the end of 2023 that it would establish a new fund for the memorial and oversee future remembrances.
Dyer also said would like a permanent memorial to be in place by the 10-year remembrance of the tragedy.
“We want to engage the family members, the victims and survivors, the first responders and everybody that has a stake in this issue,” Dyer said. “(Our) critical goal is to ensure that it honors the victims and those that were impacted by the tragedy and pays tribute to the resiliency that the city and its residents presented after the Pulse tragedy.”
[RELATED: Orlando continues to wait for permanent Pulse memorial. How long has it taken other communities?]
And to assist the city in creating the memorial, an advisory committee was created and opened for applicants in June 2024.
Pulse advisory committee
Applications opened in June 2024 to establish the advisory committee, with the city seeking people affected by the tragedy, directly and indirectly, as well as experts in engineering and design.
One thing the group will decide is whether to keep the original Pulse nightclub building in some form as part of the memorial, or whether to demolish it. The city said that is crucial to deciding how to move forward.
Eighteen people were selected to be part of the committee to represent victims’ families, survivors and “other stakeholders, as well as community leaders and those with technical experience in design and engineering, such as landscape architects,” the city said.
Here is who was selected:
- Aracelis Maria Jimenez, lost a family member in the tragedy
- Brett Rigas, survivor and lost a family member in the tragedy
- Brian Reagan, survivor, former Pulse employee, artist
- Carlitos Diaz Rodriguez, family member of a survivor, architect/design professional, landscape architect, artist
- Cesar Rodriguez, survivor
- Felicia Burt, lost a family member in the tragedy
- Jamie Reed, lost a friend in the tragedy, architect/design professional, marketing professional
- Joshua Garcia, former Pulse employee, provided services after the tragedy, mental health professional
- Keinon Carter, survivor
- Kelly Dawson, lives in the Orlando area and felt the loss as a community member, architect/design professional
- Rev. Marcelino Rivera, lost a friend in the tragedy, provided services after the tragedy, clergy and artist
- Mayra Alvear BenabeI, lost a family member in the tragedy
- Norman Casiano-Mojica, survivor
- Nancy Rosado, provided services after the tragedy, mental health professional, community advocate, former first responder
- Perry T Snider Jr., lost a friend in the tragedy, former Pulse employee, artist
- Siclaly “Laly” M. Santiago-Leon, lost a family member in the tragedy
- Terrance Hunter, regularly visited or patronized Pulse, educator and museum professional
- Tommy Connelly, survivor, artist
The Orlando mayor made it clear that the city would not be designing a museum, only a memorial.
One of the goals for the committee is to establish a conceptual design by the end of 2024.