Days ahead of the eighth anniversary of the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub, Orlando leaders announced Friday they’re forming an advisory board to help determine what a memorial will look like. The panel will have about 10 to 15 members, and is expected to include representatives of survivors, family members of victims, first responders, healthcare workers as well as people with expertise in design and architecture. It’s an approach that may help avoid some of the fractiousness plaguing previous efforts to commemorate the tragic event. An application is available at pulseorlando.org/committee, and applications will be reviewed without names or identifying information while selecting, said Larry Schooler, a facilitator tasked with guiding the memorial effort. “We’re very much hoping to find a number of family members to be a part of this committee, as well as survivors,” he said. The application period will be open until June 23, and members of the committee are expected to be announced the week of July 8. Committee members will have monthly meetings, which will be open to the public in person as well as virtually, he said. Ultimately the task force will work to come up with a conceptual design to bring to city council for review. If that is approved, more complete construction drawings will be developed and cost estimates can be determined. “Part of the thing is we want the group to decide if we’re going to demolish the building, or if the building in some fashion is going to be part of the memorial,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said. “We want to be transparent and make sure that everybody that wants to participate has that opportunity.” The city took over the memorial effort last year when it purchased the nightclub property from the Poma family, who owned the nightclub and founded the failed onePulse Foundation. In April, Dyer announced the city had contracted Schooler to lead outreach and discussions with the Pulse community, many of whom were frustrated with the lack of progress toward a memorial so long after the shooting that killed 49 people in 2016. The cost of Orlando’s memorial remains unclear, though Dyer expects it will take at least some public contribution to construct it. His goal is to have the memorial completed by the time his mayoral term is up in 2028. Dyer said he hopes there’s donor interest to help cover the cost, but said ]he believes there is also some fatigue after prior fundraising efforts by the city – which collected $34 million in the aftermath of the shooting, money distributed to survivors, victims and families – as well as the efforts of onePulse toward a grandiose museum/memorial plan. “I will not assume that we’re able to raise the entire amount … we’ve been to that well twice,” he said. “Once for $34 million…the second time OnePulse went out and I don’t know how much they raised from the community, so we’re coming back a third time asking for money from people who have already contributed.” [email protected]
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