The Florida gay nightclub that was the site of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history will become a memorial and museum to comfort the bereaved now and educate future generations about the importance of tolerance, the club’s owner said Thursday.
“What began as a place for fun and joy is now sacred ground,” Pulse owner Barbara Poma said at a news conference outside the Orlando nightclub before dozens of officials, first responders and a handful of victims’ relatives. “What was once our little corner … is now shared with the world.”
Poma offered few concrete details about what the memorial will look like, how much it will cost and what the timeline will be for building it. But she said the design and content of the memorial will be decided by survivors of the massacre, family members of those killed, first responders, and the doctors and nurses who treated the victims, as well as the greater Orlando community.
A survey of questions about how the memorial should be designed and its content already is being formulated, and no decision has been made on whether the building will be part of the memorial or whether it will be torn down, Poma said.
“The ultimate design and function will be decided by this community,” he said.
Raising money, arriving at a design and constructing the memorial and museum will be the responsibility of the onePULSE Foundation, which Poma founded after the massacre.