The Pulse nightclub is set to be demolished, and a permanent memorial is expected to be built in its place by 2027.
The Orlando City Council voted unanimously July 14 to begin contract negotiations for the construction of the Pulse memorial. The council agreed that Gomez Construction Company of Winter Park was the best of the three firms seeking to join the project.
The council also approved buying land adjacent to the Pulse site owned by Orlando businessman and GOP megadonor Craig Mateer for $1 million so it can be included in the memorial. The price is the same as what Mateer purchased it for from the onePULSE Foundation.
During the meeting, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he hopes the project will be completed by the summer of 2027.
Before then, and just days before the nine-year mark of the tragedy last month, the City of Orlando invited a select group to the site to reflect on June 12, 2016. That’s when the mass shooting claimed 49 lives and injured many more.
Until this year, very few people other than investigators had been inside. Survivors had previously returned with limited access, not long after the shooting, but it marked the first chance for family members of victims to see the inside of Pulse.
The city-led visits were the only opportunity for people to revisit the structure before its demolition.
They followed years of uncertainty and the founding and dissolution of the onePULSE Foundation, which was started in late 2016 by Pulse nightclub owner Barbara Poma. The nonprofit’s primary mission was to build a memorial and museum to honor the victims.
Barbara and her husband Rosario Poma and business owner Michael Panaggio previously owned the property, and Barbara was the executive director of the foundation.
It had a board of directors throughout the years made up of 27 people but critics noted there were no survivors or victims’ family members on the board.
They also noted that the foundation failed to publicly lay out the ownership transfer of the property. In 2016, Barbara and Rosario Poma declined to sell the site to the City of Orlando after some city commissioners raised concerns about the more than $2 million purchase price, according to WESH 2.
For seven years onePULSE fundraised for a memorial and museum, scholarships and educational programs. In its lifetime, onePULSE raised just over $21 million. There was over a million raised for the memorial and museum, however the state grant and the $10 million Orange County tourist development tax money were not included in these financials.
There was no public acknowledgment that the foundation was struggling to fundraise the projects. The original project, unveiled in 2019 by the onePULSE Foundation, called for a museum and permanent memorial costing $45 million. That estimate eventually soared to $100 million.
In spring of 2022, Deborah Bowie took over as executive director and started to question the foundation’s operations. In a four-page memo obtained by WESH 2, Bowie wrote to the board about the concerning operational issues that highlighted managerial failings in the daily operations of the foundation.
Just three months later, the onePULSE Foundation quietly dissolved at the end of 2023. Barbara Poma had previously stepped down as executive director in 2022 and left the organization in 2023.
The organization also sold the Pulse nightclub property to the City of Orlando for $2 million in October 2023.
In December 2023, onePULSE Foundation sold two pieces of land near the interim memorial site to an investment group for $1 million, according to Spectrum News 13. That parcel of land was previously a part of the foundation’s memorial design plans.
The Orlando Police Department also ended its investigation into the former nightclub owners, who were accused by concerned residents of negligence in August 2024.
OPD investigated all of the group’s allegations. While it was able to verify some of the evidence, such as unpermitted changes to the club’s floor plans, OPD found there was not enough evidence to suggest the Pomas had committed manslaughter by negligence.
Nearly 250 people were expected to tour the inside of Pulse for the week of June 11.
Angelica Jones, Pulse nightclub survivor, wasn’t among them. She says she is not physically tied to the building any longer, though she wishes some part of the building could be salvaged to become a part of the permanent memorial.
“If not for nothing, I guess this experience has allowed me to be all right with change and things ending and new things beginning,” she says.
Jones was an entertainer at Pulse for over 10 years, but she wasn’t working on the night of the shooting. She was working at Southern Nights Orlando but decided to go over to Pulse to meet up with friends. Around 2 a.m. she and her friends split up for the last call of drinks and the shots rang out.
As the shooting took place, Jones went to the back hallway toward the dressing room to try and leave through another room. She says there were so many people running, and she couldn’t make it out. Something told her to go to the dressing room to hide, she recalls, and she found doors with code locks.
“I unlocked the door, and there was about seven other people… and we just kind of bunkered down in that dressing room for the next three hours until police were able to finally come and get us out,” she says. “We had to get out through the air condition wall unit that was placed in the dressing room; we had to climb to get out that way.”
She thanks God that she didn’t see anyone get shot or any graphic scenes, but she heard everything that was happening. She says that was the last night she was able to call Pulse her place of work.
“Being a Black trans woman, especially back then, we didn’t have too many options of what to do,” Jones explains. “You know, as far as work is concerned, when I came out, you either were a sex worker or you did shows … I did shows. I was a talented individual who liked to perform.
“It was almost like the man came and burned down our home, our place of work, our place of living,” she continues. “I had to rebuild my whole life from over the last nine years, literally rebuild my whole life.”
In the aftermath, the stress got to Jones, who faced health challenges. She went to therapy, lost over 150 pounds and stopped smoking cigarettes to try and rebuild her life.
“Surviving has been the hard part, but the blessing is getting to the other side of that, and I feel like I’m there now,” Jones shares.
She reflects on the love that was built in Pulse before the shooting took place. She has been to the building twice since the shooting, the first time to collect anything that may have been left behind and the second time was during one of the anniversaries before the City of Orlando purchased the property.
She didn’t attend the recent walk though, however, saying she had already made peace.
As for the permanent memorial, Jones says anything good takes time. She thinks there needs to be something in place to help people remember Pulse but acknowledges there are some people who feel differently toward the timeline of the memorial.
She also knows there are some families who are upset with the FBI, which announced its own investigation is officially closed, but she feels satisfied because she thinks people need the closure.
On June 11, the FBI and its Victims Services Division hosted a private meeting with Pulse survivors and families to provide the opportunity to ask final questions before the investigation ended.
“We asked for questions in advance and answered questions from the families during both meetings,” the FBI said in a statement. “Some of the questions asked … we could not answer because they were beyond the scope of the FBI, concerned possible state or local violations as well as civil liability matters.”
“I think you can’t tell people how to grieve, but I think people have misplaced their anger, and I hope that they can get over that stage of grief,” Jones says.
Commissioner Patty Sheehan — who represents District 4, where Pulse is located, and served on the onePULSE task force for two years before leaving, citing ethical concerns — says the FBI was sensitive and professional. She has also received feedback from some of the survivors that the case being closed gave them closure.
Sheehan says she understands why people can be upset about the case and what happened to the onePULSE Foundation. She also says there has to be a limit to letting that anger fester.
“I don’t appreciate people casting aspersions on law enforcement, saying they didn’t do enough. They were in an untenable situation, they did whatever they could, and unfortunately, the officer that was at the door had a handgun,” Sheehan says. “Now all of our officers have assault rifles, but at the time, they didn’t. We had to change our policies… because of Pulse.”
“Unfortunately, Rosario, Barbara Poma, I feel they took advantage of our community, and they did what they did,” Sheehan also notes. “But again, it’s not against the law to run a not for profit into the ground. So at this point in time, I think the best thing for us to do, personally and professionally, is… get the memorial built and tear that building down.”
Sheehan says she’s glad Orange County is supporting the memorial plans and using money that was set aside. Orange County commissioners unanimously approved a $5 million contribution, though a formal funding agreement between the city and county is still pending approval to determine how it will be distributed.
The estimated total cost of the permanent memorial is $12 million, with the City of Orlando providing the majority of funding. Sheehan says it wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for help from the city because they can’t fundraise now, believing that the trust is broken.
The memorial won’t be ready by the 10-year anniversary because the city wants all the details to be clearly laid out and wants the right people involved. Sheehan says she isn’t sure when the demolition will happen, but it’s possible it will be scheduled for later this year.
Conceptual designs for the memorial have included a reflection space, private gathering space, a reflection pool and more, according to a press release from the city.
“Two of the people that served on the committee donated services,” Sheehan shares. “They’re architects, so I feel good we are going to have to bid it up … that’s what’s going to take a while. I’m hoping that there’s enough goodwill in the construction industry and everything like that so people will work with us and get it done quickly.”
Pulse will remain, in Sheehan’s memory, as somewhere that was happy and beautiful. She hopes the memorial will serve a similar purpose.
“It became a place of mourning, and now it’s going to become a place to remember,” Sheehan says. “And that’s how I’m looking at it in my own heart, my own mind.”
For more information and future updates, visit PulseOrlando.org
