ORANGE COUNTY LIVE IN ORLANDO. KENNEDY MASON, WESH TWO NEWS. THIS WEEK, CENTRAL FLORIDA IS MARKING TEN YEARS SINCE THE ATTACK AT THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB THAT KILLED 49 PEOPLE. THIS MORNING, WE GOT A LOOK AT THE PROGRESS BEING MADE TOWARD BUILDING A PERMANENT MEMORIAL TO THE VICTIMS. WESH TWO BOB HAZEN IS LIVE AT ORLANDO CITY HALL. BOB THE PEOPLE DESIGNING IT SAY THEY’RE ON TRACK. THEY SAY THEY HAVE JUST ABOUT ALL OF THE BIG PICTURE STUFF WRAPPED UP FIGURED OUT. NOW THEY’RE JUST FINE TUNING THOSE PLANS TO GET THEM READY FOR CONSTRUCTION. WE’RE ON TRACK TO MEET THE DEADLINE AND GET THE MEMORIAL STARTED FOR CONSTRUCTION IN SEPTEMBER. WELL, THAT WAS THE WORD THAT ORLANDO CITY COUNCIL THIS MORNING. AND THE DESIGN TEAM THERE SHOWED THE PLANS FOR THE PERMANENT MEMORIAL ON THE SITE OF THE FORMER NIGHTCLUB. IT INCLUDES A REFLECTING POOL WHERE THE DANCE FLOOR USED TO BE AN ANGEL ELLIPSE, A SERIES OF METAL COLUMNS WITH A TRIBUTE TO EACH OF THE 49 VICTIMS. THERE’S ALSO A VISITOR’S PAVILION FEATURING A SET OF RAINBOW ARMS WRAPPING AROUND THE BUILDING. THE INSIDE, MOSTLY BLACK AND WHITE THERE, WITH A TIMELINE OF THE ATTACK AND THE PICTURES OF ALL THE PEOPLE KILLED THAT NIGHT. WE’RE ALSO TOLD THERE WILL BE ARTIFACTS FROM THE CLUB THERE, INCLUDING A CHANDELIER, WHICH THE DESIGNERS SAY ACTUALLY ORIGINALLY CAME FROM THE MOULIN ROUGE CLUB IN PARIS. BUT THEY ALSO SAID THERE ARE MAJOR DETAILS THAT PEOPLE WILL NEVER SEE, INCLUDING CONCRETE FROM THE DEMOLISHED PULSE BUILDING ITSELF. IT’S BEEN CRUSHED UP. IT WILL BE MIXED IN WITH THE CONCRETE FOR THE MEMORIAL. THERE WERE MANY OF THE THE THE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT DID NOT ACTUALLY WANT THE BUILDING DEMOLISHED BECAUSE THEIR CHILD HAD DIED THERE AND THEY FELT LIKE THEIR SOUL WAS THERE. SO IN THIS WAY, WE’RE ABLE TO PRESERVE THAT AND KEEP THE BUILDINGS IN A IN A HOLISTIC MANNER ON THE SITE, BUT NOT IN A PHYSICAL VERTICAL REPRESENTATION. AND THEY ALSO SAY THE SECTION OF WALL THAT THE SWAT TEAM BUSTED THROUGH TO GET INTO THE CLUB ON THE NIGHT OF THE ATTACK WILL BE PUT UNDER AN OBELISK MONUMENT NEAR THE REFLECTING POOL. THERE WILL ALSO BE CAPSULES HOLDING PERSONAL BELONGINGS OF SOME OF THE VICTIMS. THE PLANNERS SAY THAT THE ACTUAL FINAL COST OF THE BUILDING IS STILL UP IN THE AIR. THEY’RE WORKING ON THAT, BUT THEY BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE CLOSE TO THAT $12 MILLION FIGURE THAT WE’VE SEEN IN THE PAST. AGAIN, CONSTRUCTION IS SUPPOSED TO START IN SEPTEMBER. THEY’RE ON TRACK FOR THAT. THEY BELIEVE THAT THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS WILL TAKE ABOUT A YEAR TO FINISH COVERING ORANGE COUNTY LIVE IN ORLANDO, BOB HAZEN WESH TWO NEWS. THERE WILL BE A NUMBER OF EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE WEEK THAT WILL HONOR ALL THOSE IMPACTED BY THE NIGHTCLUB ATTACK. ON THURSDAY, ORLANDO CITY HALL WILL OPEN A FREE EXHIBIT CALLED CREATED IN COMMUNITY PORTRAITS OF PULSE. IT FEATURES 49 PORTRAITS CREATED IN 2017 BY VICTIMS FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND THE COMMUNITY. YOU CAN SEE THE PIECES IN THE GALLERY THROUGH AUGUST 23RD. THEN, ON FRIDAY, THE ANNUAL PULSE REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY WILL MARK TEN YEARS SINCE THE TRAGEDY. IT WILL FEATURE PERFORMANCES FROM LOCAL ARTISTS AND CONCLUDE WITH A CANDLELIGHT CEREMONY AND READING OF THE VICTIMS NAMES. THE CEREMONY STARTS AT 530 FRIDAY EVENING AT FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF ORLANDO. AND AS OUR COMMUNITY APPROACHES THE TEN YEAR REMEMBRANCE OF THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB TRAGEDY, THE HASHTAG HONOR THEM WITH ACTION CAMPAIGN ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO HONOR THE 49 ANGELS AND ALL OF THOSE IMPACTED BY TURNING REMEMBRANCE INTO MEANINGFUL ACTION. WE HAVE EXAMPLES OF THINGS ANYONE CAN DO LISTED ON YOUR SCREEN. NONPROFIT EQUALITY FLORIDA SAYS IT’S ALL IN AN EFFORT TO REFLECT THE LOVE, RESILIENCE AND UNITY THAT EMERGED IN THE WAKE OF THAT TRAGEDY. AND THERE ARE SEVERAL MORE EVENTS HAPPENING ACROSS CENTRAL FLORIDA. WE’RE PUTTING UP A QR CODE ON YOUR SCREEN THAT WILL TAKE YOU TO A FULL ROUNDUP OVER ON WESH.COM. AND OF COURSE, WE WILL BE COVERING EACH EVENT THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. AND TO MARK THE TEN YEAR REMEMBRANCE, WESH TWO BRINGS YOU THE THIRD LONG FORM PROJECT IN OUR LIFE AFTER PULSE SERIES. WE LOOK BACK AT ALL THAT TRANSPIRED IN THE LAST DECADE, WHICH HAS BEEN FILLED WITH GRIEF AND ANGER AS THOSE IMPACTED HAVE TRIED TO HEAL. YOU’LL HEAR FROM SURVIVORS ON THAT JOURNEY. FAMILIES OF THOSE LOST AND THE DIFFICULT PATH. OUR COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO WALK TOWARD A PERMANENT MEMORIAL. WESH TWO CHRONIC
Design team provides update on Pulse memorial 10 years after mass shooting
Updated: 1:43 PM EDT Jun 8, 2026
On Monday, we got a look at the progress of the plans for a permanent memorial to honor the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. The design team shared updates at Orlando City Council, stating they are “on track to meet the deadline and get the memorial started for construction in September.”The memorial will be built on the site of the former nightclub and will include a reflecting pool where the dance floor once stood, an Angel Ellipse featuring metal columns with tributes to each of the 49 victims and a visitors’ pavilion. The pavilion will feature rainbow arms wrapping around the building, while the interior will include black-and-white decor, a timeline of the attack, photos of the victims, and artifacts from the club, including a chandelier originally from the Moulin Rouge club in Paris. The design team also revealed that concrete from the demolished Pulse building will be crushed and mixed into the memorial’s construction materials. “There were many of the family members that did not want the building demolished because their child had died there, and they felt like their soul was there. So in this way we’re able to preserve that and keep the building in a holistic manner on the site but not in a physical, vertical representation,” they said. Additionally, a section of the wall that the SWAT team broke through during the attack will be placed under an obelisk monument near the reflecting pool. After the meeting, planners said it is still too early to determine the exact cost of the project, but they expect it will be close to the previously mentioned $12 million. Construction is expected to take about a year to complete.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
On Monday, we got a look at the progress of the plans for a permanent memorial to honor the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
The design team shared updates at Orlando City Council, stating they are “on track to meet the deadline and get the memorial started for construction in September.”
The memorial will be built on the site of the former nightclub and will include a reflecting pool where the dance floor once stood, an Angel Ellipse featuring metal columns with tributes to each of the 49 victims and a visitors’ pavilion.
The pavilion will feature rainbow arms wrapping around the building, while the interior will include black-and-white decor, a timeline of the attack, photos of the victims, and artifacts from the club, including a chandelier originally from the Moulin Rouge club in Paris.
The design team also revealed that concrete from the demolished Pulse building will be crushed and mixed into the memorial’s construction materials.
“There were many of the family members that did not want the building demolished because their child had died there, and they felt like their soul was there. So in this way we’re able to preserve that and keep the building in a holistic manner on the site but not in a physical, vertical representation,” they said.
Additionally, a section of the wall that the SWAT team broke through during the attack will be placed under an obelisk monument near the reflecting pool.
After the meeting, planners said it is still too early to determine the exact cost of the project, but they expect it will be close to the previously mentioned $12 million.
Construction is expected to take about a year to complete.