Pulse survivors, families can contribute to new memorial, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer says in new letter
ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer shared an update about the City of Orlando's plans to construct a memorial to honor the 49 killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016.
The letter from Dyer to victims and families, obtained by FOX 35, reveals preliminary plans for the permanent memorial at the Pulse nightclub site, which was recently acquired by the City of Orlando. The city agreed to purchase the nightclub property back in October after the onePULSE Foundation's memorial plans fell through.
Dyer said survivors and victims' families will be able to share suggestions for the memorial site. They'll be notified in the coming weeks about how they can contribute.
Photos and keepsakes adorn the Pulse Interim Memorial located at the Pulse nightclub site south of downtown Orlando, June 6, 2019. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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"With your input and engagement, we will move forward with the creation of a permanent memorial that honors and pays tribute to the memories of the 49 and serves as a place of solemn reflection where those directly impacted by this tragedy and our entire community can go to remember," the letter said. "Your input is vital to this process."
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Orlando city officials said they hope to have a permanent Pulse Memorial to be completed by June 2026. It comes after the onePULSE Foundation sent a letter to donors on Monday informing them that the foundation's board has voted to dissolve their organization.
As far as funding goes for the site, Dyer said in the letter that a new fund has been created to help construct the memorial. Net proceeds from the 8th Annual CommUNITY Rainbow Run will benefit the new Orlando United Pulse Memorial Fund, a project within the city's existing nonprofit, Strengthen Orlando. This fund was created with the goal to construct a permanent memorial.
That event is scheduled for June 8. The 4.9k run starts and ends at Wadeview Park, and passes by Orlando Health and the Pulse memorial site.
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Another event planned for this summer is the annual Pulse Remembrance Ceremony, predominantly held for victims' families and survivors. It's scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 12 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The ceremony will be preceded by a ringing of the 49 bills at 4 p.m. and a dinner for families and survivors at 5 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church Orlando.
"We hope you will join us in our collective effort to remember the 49 angels, renew our commitment to the families and survivors, remain grateful to the first responders and the trauma teams, and reunite our community to remind the world we were, and still are, Orlando United," Dyer said.