Scaled-back plans underway for memorial to Pulse massacre victims
Scaled-back plans to honor the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre are only now getting off the ground following an effort to build a multimillion-dollar memorial and museum by a private foundation that disbanded last year.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Survivors and the families of victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre had hoped by now to have a permanent memorial in place for Wednesday’s eighth anniversary of the attack by a lone gunman who killed 49 people at the gay-friendly club in Orlando, Florida.
Instead, new, scaled-back plans are only now getting off the ground following a botched effort to build a multimillion-dollar memorial and museum by a private foundation that disbanded last year.
The city of Orlando purchased the nightclub property last year for $2 million, and it has since outlined more modest plans for a memorial. The original idea for a museum has been jettisoned and, last week, city leaders formed an advisory board to help determine what the memorial will look like.
“We’re very much hoping to find a number of family members to be a part of this committee, as well as survivors,” said Larry Schooler, a facilitator tasked with guiding the memorial effort. City officials said the goal is to have the memorial completed by 2028 at the site near downtown Orlando.
Until last year, efforts to build a memorial had been moving ahead in fits and starts ever since the massacre.
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