A proposed Pulse memorial design from a city advisory committee. Credit: City of Orlando

Nearly 10 years after a mass shooting that took the lives of 49 people at the LGBTQ+ nightclub Pulse in Orlando, the city is finally moving forward with a design concept for a permanent memorial to honor the lives lost and shooting survivors.

The construction of a permanent memorial was delayed by the slow-moving, high-spending efforts of the now-dissolved nonprofit OnePulse Foundation. City officials expect their own memorial concept, designed with the input of affected survivors and family members, to be completed by the second half of 2027 — more than 11 years after the June 2016 tragedy.

“I’m so pleased with the result and where we are at, and I am pleased we will be able to get this completed prior to me no longer being mayor,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer shared during a city workshop on the memorial design Monday.

Construction is expected to begin next June 12, on the anniversary of the tragedy. Suffice it to say, it’s been a long time coming. Although an interim memorial was set up outside the former nightclub on South Orange Avenue shortly after the shooting, a permanent memorial has never materialized. The city of Orlando took over the task of building a permanent memorial after a nonprofit founded by one of the bar’s former owners, Barbara Poma, was officially dissolved Dec. 31, 2023.

That organization, OnePulse, was criticized for years by shooting survivors who called Poma as a disingenuous money-maker only seeking to profit off her connection to the shooting. The true turmoil and chaos within the nonprofit didn’t come to light until after the group publicly gave up on building a memorial in October 2023, then dissolved itself two months later.

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Poma, who co-owned the nightclub with her husband Rosario and another partner, had already been forced out of the nonprofit by that point, after getting flack for paying herself a six-figure salary as its executive director. The organization raised millions of dollars in public grants and private donations from the public over the years to erect a memorial they never built.

Orlando city commissioner Patty Sheehan, the city’s first openly gay elected leader, who took a lead role in consoling families after the tragedy, said that any memorial built by the city should be free to visit without any profit motive. “There should be no perception of any profit for anyone,” Sheehan argued.

“I think that’s part of the … horrible things that happened in OnePulse, was that they wanted to make this a tourist attraction and to profit from it. That was disgusting,” added Sheehan, formerly a friend of Poma’s before they had a falling-out. “This needs to be a respectful, free space where people can come and pay tribute and respect to those who were lost.”

The memorial proposal presented Monday — developed with the input of a 18-member advisory committee of survivors, victims’ loved ones and other affected community members — would see a permanent memorial developed on the former Pulse property, along with two adjacent parcels of land.

The proposal includes a visitor’s pavilion, a reflection pool that would be built on what designers described as the former location of the nightclub’s dancefloor, a rainbow prism plaza, a survivor’s wall, a fountain wall, and a rainbow prism plaza that would light up at night, among other elements.

On the fountain wall, behind the fountain, would be the quote “For all those who just wanted to dance” in both English and Spanish, to commemorate the joy and connection the Pulse nightclub inspired in its patrons. The devastation of the Pulse massacre fell on Latin Night. Most victims were people of color, and most had families that reside outside Orlando.

According to Jay Wood, a design assistant with Catalyst Design Group, who helped put together the formal memorial concept, the idea for the quote came from one of the advisory committee members. He and fellow design assistant Wayne Dunkelberger of Baker Barrios expect the memorial site will be publicly accessible 24/7, with security cameras and lighting at night.

A rainbow prism structure at the proposed Pulse memorial site would light up at night. Credit: City of Orlando

“We do believe that this is going to be accessible 24/7,” said Wood. “Not the visitor pavilion, but there will always be access,” he confirmed. People who are visiting from out of town will want to stop by the memorial “all the time,” he added. “So we think that nighttime effect and ambience is super important.”

Heather Fagan, chief of staff for Mayor Dyer, said the city will allocate a $7.5 million budget for the design and construction of the memorial, drawn from city revenue funds. “We’re having early conversations with other public and private partners for additional funding considerations,” she added.

Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani and Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, both from the Orlando area, also plan to resubmit an appropriations request for about $400,000 from the state. “This funding was originally appropriated by the Legislature in 2019, and we are seeking the re-appropriation of this money to go to the city of Orlando,” Fagan explained. “This money initially went to the OnePulse Foundation and was returned when they dissolved.”

The city will also be looking to buy two parcels of land adjacent to the Pulse nightclub site, which are currently owned by Orlando entrepreneur and DeSantis ally Craig Mateer. Mateer bought the land next to the nightclub site for about $1 million from the OnePulse Foundation.

The city — which bought the Pulse property site from the Pomas and co-owner Mike Panaggio for $2 million — plans to offer the same $1 million to Mateer for the land. City leaders will likely be asked to approve the purchase sometime this summer.

Christine Leinonen, who lost her only son, Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, in the shooting, still feels bitter about how the city is handling the memorial process.

Drew and Christine Leinonen Credit: Photo via Christine Leinonen

After applying to be on the city’s advisory committee — and being rejected — she feels she has been shut out of the process to honor her son and the 48 other victims. The city received more than 150 applications from those wishing to be on the committee. Five out of the 18 lost a family member in the shooting.

“I question the true legitimacy of such a project when the mothers of the very ones it’s proposing to memorialize are being treated disrespectfully,” Leinonen, who lives in Polk County, told Orlando Weekly in a text.

“Orlando didn’t give Christopher a safe and dignified venue to enjoy dancing. And Orlando didn’t give me as his mother a voice to express what dignity for my son would look like in a memorial either.”

Christopher, a University of Central Florida graduate and licensed mental health counselor, was just 32 years old when he was fatally shot on the nightclub’s dancefloor with his boyfriend, Juan. It took 33 hours for Christine to receive confirmation that her son was dead.

According to Fagan, Dyer’s chief of staff, the city plans to put out a request for proposals for the design and construction of the memorial next month. The application portal will close May 29.

Over in Osceola County, where a more modest proposal is in the works, a county spokesperson confirmed they’re “anticipating a groundbreaking” for their own Pulse tribute in June, meant to coincide with this year’s anniversary of the tragedy. The county plans to build a 49-foot-tall “Wings of the Rainbow” sculpture at Brownie Wise Park in Kissimmee to honor shooting victims and survivors.

“We also anticipate announcing impactful community partnerships in the months ahead to ensure the continued success and sustained upkeep of this tribute,” the Osceola County spokesperson added.

This post has been updated to clarify that the city bought the Pulse property site from its former property owners, not OnePulse.

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This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2025.

General news reporter for Orlando Weekly, with a focus on state and local government and workers' rights. You can find her bylines in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, In These Times, and Facing South.