About 23 minutes.
That’s roughly the amount of time it took Wednesday morning for a construction crew to take down the towering sign above Pulse nightclub in Orlando, as part of the construction process for a permanent memorial at the site to commemorate the lives of mass shooting victims and survivors.
“It’s an important first step,” city commissioner Patty Sheehan told Orlando Weekly this morning, standing on a sidewalk outside of the club, just minutes ahead of the sign’s removal. Sheehan, whose district includes Pulse, was a former patron of the LGBTQ nightclub. “Ten years later, it’s definitely time to move forward, and this is part of that. And today is that first step,” she said.
Just after 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016, a gunman opened fire at the gay nightclub just off South Orange Avenue, killing 49 and wounding dozens more. Most of the victims of the Pulse tragedy were young people of color — as it was Latin Night the night of the shooting — and LGBTQ+.
Although an interim memorial wall has stood outside the club property for years, the city of Orlando is currently in the process of building a permanent memorial, following the failed efforts of the OnePulse Foundation. The city’s memorial is expected to break ground this summer, with construction expected to be completed September 2027.
“I want it to be about — I call them those kids, you know,” Sheehan said. “Those young people that were here that just wanted to dance, and their friends and their families.”
The OnePulse Foundation, a nonprofit formed by former Pulse club owner Barbara Poma, dissolved amid financial mismanagement allegations in late 2023, after raising more than $20 million to construct a memorial and potential Pulse museum.
That concept, garish and expected to cost roughly $100 million total, was opposed by several survivors of the shooting and family members of victims, who have accused Poma of unnecessarily opening their loved ones to risk of harm through the club’s preexisting code violations, documented in public record. The city, however, has repeatedly claimed that these violations were resolved or otherwise weren’t life-threatening ahead of the 2016 massacre.
Sheehan, a former friend of Poma, readily admits now that what the OnePulse Foundation did was “criminal.”
“The state of Florida has dominion over not-for-profits, and I don’t even know if it’s against the law to run a not-for-profit into the ground, but it should be criminal, what they did,” she told the Weekly.
After fundraising for seven years, the OnePulse Foundation abandoned its memorial construction plans in October 2023, ultimately refusing to provide refunds for donations and leaving county taxpayers to cover its roughly $51,000 property tax bill.
The city subsequently bought the Pulse property, and city officials committed to building a memorial itself through mostly public investment, while accepting private donations. The city has committed $7.5 million in city funds for the memorial, while the Orange County government has committed $5 million. Even the state — which has effectively undermined LGBTQ rights through the state Legislature in recent years — pitched in nearly $400,000 for the project, after previously committing and then forcing a refund from OnePulse for the same.
The total estimated cost of the project is $12 to $12.5 million, and the city will cover the cost of maintenance and operations after it’s completed. “It’s not easy to go to City Council and ask for millions of dollars to do this kind of construction, but they were all supportive,” said Sheehan. “There was never anybody who said no.”
Last month, concerns circulated over whether the Pulse memorial project would be affected by state legislation (HB 1001/SB 1134) moving through the Florida Legislature that aims to prevent local governments from promoting or funding initiatives that could be considered DEI or diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Republican-sponsored legislation was amended, however, to ensure it wouldn’t affect memorials, monuments or events that take place at them. Some local government leaders, however, have warned it could still affect events such as Pride parades, celebrations of Women’s History Month, and even Oktoberfest celebrations.
It’s currently on its way to Gov. DeSantis’ desk after securing approval from majorities in the Republican-dominated House on Tuesday — mostly along party lines — and in the Senate earlier this month.
As for the Pulse nightclub sign, city spokesperson Andrea Otero told theWeekly the sign will be packaged today and stored in an environmentally controlled warehouse at a secure, undisclosed location today or tomorrow for safekeeping.
Several passersby gathered outside of the Dunkin’ off Esther Street and the Wendy’s on South Orange Avenue to watch the sign’s removal Wednesday. The actual nightclub building itself will also be demolished next week.
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