Early Wednesday morning, people watched as crews began tearing down the Pulse building.
It's been almost a decade since the mass shooting at the former LGBTQ nightclub that killed 49 people and injured dozens more on June 12, 2016. Close to 300 people were at Pulse that evening, celebrating Latin Night.
Two excavators worked to demolish the building, working alongside crews who sprayed the exterior with water. Crews started spraying the building around 7 a.m, and demolition began shortly after 9, starting with the roof.
City Commissioner Patty Sheehan watched as the excavators tore the building down. Sheehan said she was full of mixed emotions as she heard the debris from the building come down.
“As they started hitting it more and more, and the roof came off, I kind of felt like the souls were being released,” Sheehan said. “I couldn't even go in the building after it happened. I really felt the heaviness even being outside the building.
“So, I'm glad it's gone. I feel like it's been like a big, open sore on the community for a long time, not just the LGBTQ community. This entire community, people don't realize this impacted this entire area, and even even the world.”
The city of Orlando formed a committee of those affected by the shooting to help plan the memorial. The detailed design plans are still being developed.
Construction for the memorial is planned to start in September. Although the building has officially been demolished, the entire clearing and cleaning process will take a few weeks.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer also watched the demolition, he said it's “a major step towards the completion of a permanent memorial that all of the families of the pulse victims and survivors deeply deserve.”
Yolie Cintron was at the demolition, representing some of the Hispanic mothers and victims affected by the massacre.
“My opinion is not the one to take. It is the opinion of the mothers,” Cintron said. “I was talking to some of the mothers, and they feel like a mix of feelings. Some of them, they want that to be down. Some of them, they don't want that to be down because they think that that is part of some investigation that they are supposed to have with the building.”
