Orlando to buy Pulse nightclub property for $2M, build memorial
- 49 people were killed at Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando in June 2016
- Orlando OKs $2M to purchase site with plans to build a memorial for victims
- Plans for a permanent memorial on the club property previously fell through
FILE – Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting and activist, looks at the photos that are a part of the Pulse memorial in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 9, 2022. Across central Florida, the 49 victims killed and dozens more survivors of the massacre at a gay-friendly nightclub were remembered with the unveiling of a 44-foot (13.4-meter) wide mural and an overnight vigil at the site of the Pulse club on the seventh anniversary of the tragedy. Several people gathered at the site of the Pulse nightclub at 2 a.m. Monday, June 12, 2023 around the time the tragedy occurred. (AP Photo/Cody Jackson, file)
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(NewsNation) — The city of Orlando has approved the purchase of the property of the Pulse nightclub shooting, with plans to create a memorial for the 49 victims killed there seven years ago.
On Monday, the Orlando City Council unanimously approved the $2 million purchase of 1912 South Orange Avenue. The city plans to house a permanent memorial on the property for the victims of the 2016 mass shooting. However, not everyone supports the plan.
Many community members and victims’ loved ones spoke out in support of a permanent memorial for the site, CBS News reports. Maritza Gomez, who survived the shooting, asserted the focus should be on getting more answers about what happened the night of June 12, 2016.
“I lived that night, but it’s a constant sacrifice to keep moving every day,” Gomez said. “I don’t think that Pulse should be diminished. I think that the investigation should be taken care of first.”
The efforts to build a memorial for Pulse victims has been moving ahead in fits and starts since the massacre at the gay nightclub. Barbara and Rosario Poma and businessman Michael Panaggio owned the property, and Barbara Poma was the executive director of the onePulse Foundation — the nonprofit that had been leading efforts to build a memorial and museum. But Barbara Poma stepped down as executive director last year and left the organization entirely earlier this year.
The onePulse Foundation also said earlier this year it was scaling back from its plans for a large memorial with a $100 million price tag following fundraising challenges.
Omar Mateen opened fire in the nightclub on June 12, 2016, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded.
Mateen was killed after a three-hour standoff with SWAT team members. He had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
