ORLANDO, Fla. – Almost 10 years after 49 people were killed at Pulse nightclub, the city plans to tear down the building to make way for a permanent memorial.
City workers removed the club’s sign last week, a first step in a careful, planned process that officials say will clear the site for the memorial. Items inside the building have been removed and preserved, the city said.
Demolition is scheduled to begin on Wednesday morning. Crews will start work at 7 a.m. by wetting the structure to reduce airborne dust, with dismantling expected to begin at 9 a.m. City officials said clearing the entire site likely will take several weeks.
Construction on the permanent memorial is planned to begin this fall, with officials estimating completion sometime in 2027.
The Pulse mass shooting happened on June 12, 2016, when a gunman killed 49 people and wounded dozens more. Mayor Buddy Dyer said survivors and victims’ families have long said they want the site to become a place of remembrance and reflection.
“Certainly the outcry when the not-for-profit was trying to construct it, was talking about building it somewhere other than this site. We learned that it was very, very important that this sacred site, I think we knew that, but it was emphasized that this is a sacred site to those who loved the 49 and anybody else that visited Pulse,” Mayor Dyer said Tuesday.
“This was a location that was not just for the LGBTQ community, it was largly, gay nights and Latin nights and things like that. Just about anyone was welcome, so it meant a lot to a lot of different people.”
Design teams recently showed updated renderings that include a reflecting pool and a fountain wall.
Taking the building down is expected to be an emotional moment for many, Dyer said, the city is offering grief counseling for people who feel they need it.
For more information on the memorial process, click here.