The nightclub is being replaced with a permanent memorial to one of the US’s worst mass shootings in modern history.
Survivors and family members of the 49 victims killed at an LGBTQ+ friendly nightclub in the United States have gotten their first chance to walk through it before it is demolished and replaced with a permanent memorial to what at the time was considered the worst mass shooting in modern US history.
In small groups over four days starting Wednesday, survivors and family members of those killed plan to spend half an hour at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where Omar Mateen opened fire during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded. Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to ISIL (ISIS), was killed after a three-hour standoff with police.
The Pulse shooting‘s death toll was surpassed the following year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas.
The city of Orlando purchased the Pulse property in 2023 for $2m and plans to build a $12m permanent memorial that will open in 2027. These efforts follow a fumbled attempt to create a memorial over many years by a private foundation run by the club’s former owner.
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The existing structure will be razed later this year.
“None of us thought that it would take nine years to get to this point, and we can’t go back and relitigate all of the failures along the way that have happened. But what we can do is control how we move forward together,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said two weeks ago, when county commissioners pledged $5m to support the city of Orlando’s plan.
The opportunity to visit the nightclub comes on the ninth anniversary of the mass shooting.
About 250 survivors and family members of those killed have responded to the city’s invitation to walk through the nightclub this week. Families of the 49 people who were killed can visit the site with up to six people in their group, and survivors can bring one person with them. The club has been cleaned, and lighting has been installed ahead of the walk-throughs.
The people invited to visit are being given the chance to ask FBI agents who investigated the massacre about what happened.
Mental health counsellors will be available to talk to those who walk through the building in what could be both a healing and traumatic moment for them.
“The building may come down, and we may finally get a permanent memorial, but that doesn’t change the fact that this community has been scarred for life,” said Brandon Wolf, who survived the massacre by hiding in a bathroom as the gunman opened fire. He does not plan to visit the site.
“There are people inside the community who still need and will continue to need support and resources.”
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