Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has announced that the South Florida city will purchase Pulse nightclub for $2.25 million and turn it into a memorial.
The popular LGBT nightspot was the site of a June 12 mass shooting after Omar Mateen opened fire and took the lives of 49 patrons, many Latino and most LGBT-identified. Another 53 people were injured. The incident is the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter in U.S. history.
The city will turn the site into a permanent memorial to honor those who were killed that night.
"There's a lot of people who are making a visit to the site part of their trip, part of their experience of Orlando," Dyer told the Orlando Sentinel November 8. The goal is to "create something to honor the memory of the victims that are deceased and those that were injured, and a testament to the resilience of our community," he said.
According to South Florida Gay News , the Pulse site is still visited daily by mourners. The city plans to reach out to the community for input in how the memorial should be constructed.
Equality Florida, the state's LGBT rights group, applauded the plan.
"The Pulse memorial has the potential to be a beacon for the LGBTQ community across the country," Equality Florida public policy director Hannah Willard told the Bay Area Reporter by phone. "The massacre at Pulse touched the hearts of so many around the world, and I commend the city of Orlando for seeking to memorialize the lives of those we lost and amplify the stories of LGBTQ people in Orlando."
Residents of South Florida expressed their approval of the plan.
"I think Orlando purchasing Pulse and turning it into a memorial is an excellent idea," said Alan R. Henry, a 62-year-old gay man in Port St Lucie, which is in the Orlando area. "The news of that horror affected me deeply, although I never go clubbing anymore. Whatever Orlando and the rest of the people involved want to set up there, will be better than trying to reopen it as a dance club. My heart goes out to all the survivors, and friends and families of the victims."
Henry also said that Mateen, the Pulse shooter, was from his town.
Brendon Lies, 26, a transgender man in Wilton Manors, Florida, also said that he was deeply affected by the Pulse shootings.
"What happened at Pulse left me with very serious pain," he said. "Like a smaller, more targeted 9/11, it was an assault on our community, but we came together across the world in order to heal. For many people, Pulse is already a landmark. I'm grateful that we'll be able to pay our respects there for many years to come."
Dyer said that Pulse would most likely not be changed for another year. Funds are currently being distributed to victims and their families. The Associated Press reported that the victims' estates will get $350,000 each.