


Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.
Officials in Orlando, Florida, are moving ahead with their plans for a permanent memorial at the site of the Pulse nightclub shooting that killed 49 people nine years ago. Survivors and victims’ families are getting their first opportunity to walk through the shuttered LGBTQ club before it’s demolished and replaced with a memorial that’s set to open in two years.
8 facts about the new Pulse memorial:
• The city of Orlando purchased the Pulse property in 2023 for $2 million and plans to build a $12 million permanent memorial that will open in 2027.
• Orange County commissioners pledged $5 million to support the city of Orlando’s memorial plan, as announced by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.
• The existing Pulse nightclub structure will be razed later this year to make way for the new memorial.
• The city’s current proposal is more modest than previous plans and has scrapped plans for a museum component.
• Around 250 survivors and family members of those killed have been invited to walk through the nightclub before demolition, with families allowed up to six people in their group and survivors able to bring one person.
• The original project by the onePulse Foundation, unveiled in 2019, called for a museum and permanent memorial costing $45 million, but that estimate eventually soared to $100 million.
• The previous effort by a private foundation floundered, and the organization disbanded in 2023.
• Mental health counselors are being provided to support those participating in the final walk-throughs of the building before demolition.
Reads more: Pulse massacre survivors are set to revisit the nightclub before it’s razed
This article is written with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence based solely on Washington Times original reporting and wire services. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Ann Wog, Managing Editor for Digital, at awog@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.