Memorial design that honors Pulse nightclub victims moves forward
By Luis-Alfredo Garcia
February 5, 2025 at 10:00 AM EST
Almost nine years after the Pulse nightclub shooting, the city of Orlando is one step closer to a design for its permanent memorial that honors the 49 victims.
The Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee first convened in July 2024. Ever since then, the 18-member group has discussed what the community wants as the city moves forward with a memorial for the victims killed June 12, 2016, at the LGBTQ+ nightclub. Tuesday evening's meeting was the last time the group would officially meet.
Members of the committee – which includes shooting survivors, family members of victims and other community members – unanimously agreed to move forward with the presented designs. Now, it is up to the city and designers to implement the final round of committee critique.
Although the committee agreed to continue with the design, its members were divided on whether to keep part of the nightclub intact and where exactly to place the names of the 49 victims.
One rendering of the memorial site featured a wall from the nightclub placed next to a reflection pool. Some saw it as part of a violent story they hope visitors could reflect on. Others only saw a painful reminder.
“It’s not about keeping the building,” said committee member Siclaly “Laly” Santiago-Leon. “It’s about keeping that point [in time].”
As for the names of the victims, the two choices were between a water wall with each “Angel’s” shoe in the main area or on 49 columns in an elliptical pathway. Neither had a consensus, and so designers and city commissioners will take the input into any final design decisions.
A city council workshop presentation is scheduled for Feb. 24, and committee members will be updated on the final design as it makes progress. Milestone updates will come at 30% and 60% design completion, according to a projected timeline presented at the meeting.
Group members were in consensus on one aspect of the memorial: flags of each victim’s nationality will be flown. This includes the flags of Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Changes shown off in response to feedback from December’s meeting include the addition of Spanish to accompany written English throughout the memorial, the inclusion of more color and rainbow elements and a reworked reflection pool.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he hoped to have the project completed by early fall 2027. The city is in charge of the memorial, but the task was previously with the onePULSE Foundation. The nonprofit dissolved November 2023; it had planned to build a permanent memorial and museum but failed to raise the funding for those efforts.
The city of Orlando bought the Pulse nightclub for $2 million a month before onePULSE dissolved. As scheduled, the memorial will open 11 years after the mass shooting and 4 years after the city took over the effort to build it.
Rev. Marcelino Rivera lost a friend in the shooting. Throughout the tears and long wait, he said hope hadn’t been lost. He wishes the memorial will serve as a reminder for others – beyond even his lifetime – to not let hate prevail.
“We’re not living in the same America that I grew up in,” he said. “Don’t let this hate continue.”
He also noted the need for more community involvement and asked members of the public who attended the first citizen’s advisory board meeting – and never came again – to continually support the memorial once it is built.
The Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee first convened in July 2024. Ever since then, the 18-member group has discussed what the community wants as the city moves forward with a memorial for the victims killed June 12, 2016, at the LGBTQ+ nightclub. Tuesday evening's meeting was the last time the group would officially meet.
Members of the committee – which includes shooting survivors, family members of victims and other community members – unanimously agreed to move forward with the presented designs. Now, it is up to the city and designers to implement the final round of committee critique.
Although the committee agreed to continue with the design, its members were divided on whether to keep part of the nightclub intact and where exactly to place the names of the 49 victims.
One rendering of the memorial site featured a wall from the nightclub placed next to a reflection pool. Some saw it as part of a violent story they hope visitors could reflect on. Others only saw a painful reminder.
“It’s not about keeping the building,” said committee member Siclaly “Laly” Santiago-Leon. “It’s about keeping that point [in time].”
As for the names of the victims, the two choices were between a water wall with each “Angel’s” shoe in the main area or on 49 columns in an elliptical pathway. Neither had a consensus, and so designers and city commissioners will take the input into any final design decisions.
A city council workshop presentation is scheduled for Feb. 24, and committee members will be updated on the final design as it makes progress. Milestone updates will come at 30% and 60% design completion, according to a projected timeline presented at the meeting.
Group members were in consensus on one aspect of the memorial: flags of each victim’s nationality will be flown. This includes the flags of Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Changes shown off in response to feedback from December’s meeting include the addition of Spanish to accompany written English throughout the memorial, the inclusion of more color and rainbow elements and a reworked reflection pool.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he hoped to have the project completed by early fall 2027. The city is in charge of the memorial, but the task was previously with the onePULSE Foundation. The nonprofit dissolved November 2023; it had planned to build a permanent memorial and museum but failed to raise the funding for those efforts.
The city of Orlando bought the Pulse nightclub for $2 million a month before onePULSE dissolved. As scheduled, the memorial will open 11 years after the mass shooting and 4 years after the city took over the effort to build it.
Rev. Marcelino Rivera lost a friend in the shooting. Throughout the tears and long wait, he said hope hadn’t been lost. He wishes the memorial will serve as a reminder for others – beyond even his lifetime – to not let hate prevail.
“We’re not living in the same America that I grew up in,” he said. “Don’t let this hate continue.”
He also noted the need for more community involvement and asked members of the public who attended the first citizen’s advisory board meeting – and never came again – to continually support the memorial once it is built.