The City Council of Orlando Postponed today's vote on the plans for Pulse Nightclub and the land it sits on to December 5th. A deal was made November 4th between the City and the owners to allow the city purchase the nightclub for $2.25 million, allowing the city to build a memorial to honor the 49 victims of this horrific tragedy. If the transaction is approved, it would put the rest many questions about whether the club would reopen.
Pulse owner Barbara Poma said in a statement, “Since the day of this terrible tragedy, my commitment has been that the heart of Pulse nightclub keep beating and now we can all be assured that will happen.”
Mayor Buddy Dyer posted a video on twitter, that outlined a plan involving leaving the club as is for 12-18 months to give mourners time to visit and heal before the club takes on it's new shape as a memorial. He didn't go into any detail on what shape it would take on, only saying it would change in some way.
“It has great significance for all of us who live in and love Orlando.”
– @orlandomayor on why we're working to purchase the Pulse site pic.twitter.com/w7zE46xhDi
— Orlando FL (@citybeautiful) November 9, 2016
As a member of the Orlando community with coworkers, friends, and people I consider family that were effected by the massacre at Pulse, it has been a tough 6 months. However, I look forward to seeing a permanent memorial take shape, as well as being an active part of that process.
In the wake of ALL of that, this past weekend Orlando celebrated the largest Come Out With Pride parade in the city's history. Hosting over 150,000 people, volunteers, and participants our community came together to not only celebrate the strides our country has made in the equality of the national LGBTQ community but also to memorialize those we lost in this attack against our Orlando LGBTQ community. It was a beautiful site to see our streets filled to the brim with inclusive and love once again.
June 12th is an event that will forever shape our community and the way our community loves, and includes, an EXTREMELY diverse group people who call Orlando home. We are united more than ever. We are #OrlandoStrong.
