The Orange County board of commissioners on Tuesday approved a $5 million funding agreement with the city of Orlando to help support the construction of a permanent memorial to commemorate the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub that killed 49.
The city of Orlando, which took over the project of building a permanent memorial in 2023, had previously requested financial support from the county. The city estimates the memorial’s design and construction will cost roughly $12 million total. “Let’s come together to honor the 49 angels that were taken from us,” pleaded Orlando city commissioner Patty Sheehan, who appealed the board during public comment Tuesday morning.
“It has been nine years, y’all,” the longtime commissioner, whose district includes Pulse, pointed out candidly. “The one thing I would ask today is if we could please get this approved and get this moving forward, because the families really do want to see some forward momentum.”
The city government took over the project of building a Pulse memorial following the collapse of the now-dissolved nonprofit OnePulse Foundation, founded by one of Pulse nightclub’s former owners, Barbara Poma.
The nonprofit, formed shortly after the Pulse massacre, made a mission of building a permanent memorial — after erecting a temporary structure outside the club — but its overly ambitious plans and financial mismanagement ultimately made its continued work unsustainable. It dissolved on Dec. 31, 2023.
“There was a not-for-profit that, unfortunately, wasted a whole lot of money and did some things that were wrong,” said Sheehan, who had her own personal fallout with Poma several years ago. “It’s up to us to pick up that mantle and move forward,” she argued.
Under the new agreement, the county will commit $5 million to building a Pulse memorial commemorating victims and survivors of the shooting over the next three years, beginning with an initial payment of $1.6 million on Nov. 1. A second $1.6 million installment will be due Nov. 1, 2026 and a final payment will be due Nov. 1, 2027.
The city of Orlando expects to complete the Pulse memorial by the second half of 2027 at the site of the former gay nightclub, located a couple of miles south of downtown Orlando. Under the county’s agreement with the city, the city is responsible for maintaining the upkeep of memorial and operational costs following its completion.
The agreement also stipulates that, if the total cost of the memorial is less than $12 million, the city “shall refund ⅓ of any cost savings to the County within 30 days of the final project close-out,” according to county documents.
For accountability purposes, the agreement also requires the city to provide periodic progress reports to the county upon the county’s request, and guarantees the County Comptroller’s right to audit the city’s project costs for compliance with the terms, conditions and requirements of the agreement.
A plaque acknowledging Orange County commissioners and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings’ contributions to the memorial’s construction will also be installed and “prominently displayed” at the site of the Pulse memorial upon its completion.
The city of Orlando chose Winter Park design firm Gomez Construction Co. to oversee construction plans for the memorial this past July, and expects construction of the memorial to begin sometime during summer 2026.
The state of Florida, which recently painted over a rainbow crosswalk outside of the former nightclub in what Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer decried as a “callous” move, will also pitch in nearly $400,000 for the memorial’s completion, thanks to state appropriation requests filed earlier this year by Democratic Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani and Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando.
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