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4d ago

Survivors and Families Tour Pulse Nightclub Ahead of Its Demolition

With more than $5 million in new funding in place, Orlando is reviewing design proposals for a $12 million Pulse memorial scheduled to open by 2027.

FILE - The former Pulse Nightclub —the site of the 2016 mass shooting that killed 49 patrons— sits south of downtown Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)
Hundreds of flowers and tributes to those killed in the Pulse Nightclub shooting. (Getty)
FILE - A visitor looks over a display with the photos and names of the 49 victims that died at the Pulse nightclub memorial, June 11, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)
A visitor views photos at the Pulse Interim Memorial in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2023 — the seventh anniversary of the date when a gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Pulse nightclub, killing 49 people.

Overview

  • Around 250 survivors and relatives were granted 30-minute facilitated walkthroughs of the shuttered Pulse site this week, with FBI agents on hand for questions and mental health counselors available.
  • Orlando purchased the venue in December 2023 for $2 million and plans to tear down the existing structure later this year to clear space for the memorial.
  • Florida lawmakers approved $394,000 in state funding and Orange County has pledged $5 million to complement Orlando’s budget for the $12 million project.
  • City engineers are vetting proposals from design firms on a memorial that will include a reflection pool, visitors pavilion, tribute wall, healing garden and a visitor center.
  • Some survivors and family members have expressed concern that the advisory committee’s design feels overly commercial, urging a more somber and dignified tribute.