ORLANDO, Fla – The city of Orlando is taking another step forward in its plans to build a permanent memorial at the site of the Pulse nightclub, nearly a decade to the day after the mass shooting in the city.
On Monday afternoon, the Orlando City Council approved a restrictive covenant agreement tied to a nearly $400,000 state grant that will help fund the memorial. The agreement places limits on how the property can be used, preventing the city from selling, transferring, mortgaging, or assigning the land without state approval for a period of five years. If the terms are violated during that time, the state would be entitled to repayment of the grant.
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The Pulse site marks the location of the June 12, 2016 mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub, where 49 people were killed and many injured.
“It’s time,” said shooting survivor Jorshua Hernandez Carrion. “It’s been 10 years this year, and we still don’t have a memorial.”
For many survivors and families of victims, the council’s approval represents long-awaited progress after years of delays.
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Laly Santiago-Leon, whose cousin Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon was killed in the attack, said seeing the process move forward brings a sense of healing.
“It’s a form of patience. It’s been very difficult,” Santiago-Leon said. “But I’m happy to see it. In my heart, it’s a form of healing.”
Not everyone agrees with the city’s vision for the memorial. Christine Leinonen, who lost her son Drew in the shooting, has voiced strong opposition to the current plans.
“They are not memorializing the reality of the trauma,” Leinonen said. “They are trying to whitewash it, pretty it up, to make something horrific into something touristy.”
Last month, artifacts were removed from the Pulse building as preparations began for most of the structure to be torn down. Design concepts for the memorial include an area of reflection, a healing garden, and other contemplative spaces. The total projected cost of the memorial is estimated to be nearly $12 million.
[PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Artifacts removed from Pulse site for preservation as building nears demolition date]
Hernandez Carrion, who now lives in Puerto Rico, says he doesn’t want the memorial to turn into a monument with a visitors center where people will have to pay to visit certain things on the site. He believes completing the memorial should about honoring every life lost and finding closure.
“I want to have the memorial. I want to finish this chapter of my life,” he said. “I don’t want to be in 20 years talking about the same thing. We need this, and the City of Orlando has to make it right.”
Construction on the Pulse memorial is slated to begin this fall, with a goal of completion in 2027.