ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 8 (UPI) — The city of Orlando intends to purchase the Pulse nightclub, site of the June shooting that left 49 people dead, and convert it into a memorial, a city statement said Tuesday.
A proposed purchase agreement of $2.25 million will be voted on by the city council on Monday. Assuming approval, the property will be turned over to the city by December 30, a statement from the city said.
The site will likely remain as is for the next 12 to 18 months, Mayor Buddy Dyer said in the statement, until a suitable memorial is designed and constructed. Temporary memorials, including flags and flowers on a chain-link fence surrounding the property, are regularly placed at the site, as well as at nearby Orlando Regional Medical Center, where many of the victims died.
The nightclub, a dance club and meeting place for Orlando’s gay community, was attacked on June 12 by Omar Mateen, a lone gunman who told a police negotiator he claimed allegiance to the Islamic State. He committed the United States’ worst mass shooting, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others before police stormed the nightclub and shot him to death.
“This location is now a permanent part of Orlando’s history. It’s the site of the most tragic event that has ever occurred in the city of Orlando. We want our entire community to be a part of this site. With the city owning the property, we can engage in a public process to determine the future of the Pulse property and building,” Dyer said.
CNN reported that in August he told WMFE-FM, “We need to determine some period of time that we leave it exactly as is with some adequate fencing because there will be people … that want to travel here to see it as it exists without making modifications.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.