Reduction in Plans for Florida Nightclub Massacre Commemoration Started After Years of Postponement
FILE – On September 9, 2022, in Orlando, Florida, activist and Pulse nightclub shooting victim Brandon Wolf examines pictures that are a part of the monument. By now, survivors, the families of the deceased, and Orlando locals had wanted to have a permanent monument in place for Wednesday, June 12, 2024, the eighth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, in which a shooter massacred 49 people on a Latin night at a club frequented by LGBTQ+ individuals. (Cody Jackson, File/AP Photo)
FLORENCE, ORLANDO (AP) — On Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the shooting by a lone shooter who murdered 49 people at the gay-friendly club in Orlando, Florida, occurred, survivors and the families of those slain had hoped by now to have a permanent monument in place.
Rather, after an unsuccessful attempt by a private charity that folded last year to construct a multimillion-dollar memorial and museum, fresh, more modest ideas are just now beginning to take shape.
The nightclub site was bought by the city of Orlando for $2 million last year, and the city has subsequently revealed its more modest ideas for a monument. The original plan to build a museum was abandoned, and this week the city established an advisory group to assist design the monument.
“We sincerely hope to include survivors and a number of family members in this committee,” said Larry Schooler, the facilitator in charge of overseeing the memorial initiative. The memorial is expected to be finished by 2028 at the location close to downtown Orlando, according to city authorities.
Since the tragedy, attempts to erect a memorial have been progressing sporadically until last year.
Omar Mateen opened fire during a Latin night event on June 12, 2016, leaving 49 people dead and 53 injured. It was the worst mass shooting in recent American history at the time. However, it was exceeded the following year at a country music festival in Las Vegas, where 58 people lost their lives and over 850 were injured among a 22,000-strong throng. Mateen was slain by police following a three-hour standoff, during which he had sworn loyalty to the Islamic State organization.
The land was originally owned by businessmen Michael Panaggio, Barbara and Rosario Poma, and Barbara Poma, who served as executive director of the nonprofit organization that oversaw the construction of the memorial and museum. In 2022, Barbara Poma announced her intention to sell the Pulse property rather than give it, which led to criticism of her conflict of interest. A year later, she departed the group completely.
The onePulse Foundation’s initial proposal, which was revealed in 2019, asked for a $45 million museum and permanent monument. That projected cost, though, ultimately skyrocketed to $100 million.
An analysis by the Orlando Sentinel revealed that the project’s breadth ultimately exceeded the nonprofit’s capacity for fundraising.
The Sentinel was informed by Deborah Bowie, who assumed leadership of the organization in 2022, that upon her arrival, she saw a “house of cards waiting to crash down.”
When I arrived here, I observed a significant difference between the board’s perception of the situation and what I witnessed,” Bowie remarked. “I was unable to locate any financial justification for the budgets that I saw.”
A permanent monument has been awaited by survivors and others for the past eight years.
Brett Rigas told the Sentinel, “We all deserve closure, and that will never come until this memorial is built.”
Pictures You Must See: June 2024
On Saturday, June 1, 2024, a participant in the Pride Parade in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand, which is headed toward becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to allow marriage equality, celebrated the LGBTQ+ community’s Pride Month with a parade on Saturday.
