More than 10 years after a shooter killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub, the Orlando City Council is moving forward with construction on a memorial with a vote Monday.
If the city council approves the construction agreement, Gomez Construction would begin work on the memorial at the site of the former nightclub on South Orange Avenue this month, completing work by the end of next year.
The memorial to what was at the time the largest mass shooting in U.S. history would include a reflecting pool, Survivor Wall, visitor center and a pavilion for community gatherings.
The memorial project has had a contentious development history. The OnePULSE Foundation had established a temporary memorial for the shooting while raising money for a permanent memorial and museum on the site, but dissolved in 2023 amid accusations that it misspent donations and taxpayer money.
Orlando purchased the Pulse site in 2023 and demolished the building this spring. Longtime Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has made its completion a priority before he leaves office next fall.
In a statement this week, the City of Orlando indicated that the Survivor Wall will include an inscription of the “Sonnet to Orlando” that Lin-Manuel Miranda recited at the 2016 Tony Awards soon after the shooting.
City staff are also asking the council to vote on accepting $2.1 million in philanthropy from Dr. Phillips Charities, Orlando Health, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Resort and other charities to help fund the project, which carries a total cost of $12.6 million.
Orange County and the state of Florida have also helped finance the memorial.
