City staff remove artifacts from Pulse to prepare for memorial

City government staff began removing items from Pulse nightclub south of downtown Orlando Monday morning as part of the next phase of the ongoing process of building a permanent memorial at the site.

Objects removed from the building Monday morning include a couple of chandeliers, the bar top, a cash register and tiles from the outside patio area. Artifacts also include promotional posters that have clung to the walls of the club since the tragic 2016 mass shooting at Pulse that left 49 people dead and dozens more wounded. It was the deadliest shooting in modern history at the time it occurred, with gunfire beginning just after 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 12, 2016.

According to the city, artifacts removed from the Pulse site will be carefully transported and stored in an environmentally controlled warehouse until the items are “permanently placed.” The city took over the process of developing a memorial at the mass shooting site in 2023 after an ambitious and expensive process by the nonprofit OnePulse Foundation collapsed and was left abandoned amid the nonprofit’s own financial mismanagement.

A rainbow-striped crosswalk outside the club, referencing the LGBTQ+ identity of most of the shooting victims, served as an interim memorial of sorts before it was painted over by state transportation officials this past fall in the dead of night. Gov. Ron DeSantis called the crosswalk “political,” and later insinuated the rainbow paint was an incentive for drivers who “disagree with the message” to drive recklessly.

A $12 million memorial being developed by the city of Orlando government, memorializing victims, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2027. Construction is set to begin next summer, with Winter Park design firm Gomez Construction taking the lead.

The city of Orlando has committed $7.5 million to the memorial project, while the Orange County government has agreed to dedicate $5 million over the next three years. The state government, through the appropriations process, additionally committed $394,000 for the memorial earlier this year after recouping unspent funds that were previously given to the now-dissolved OnePulse Foundation.

The city expects the removal of additional items at the Pulse property, including the removal of the Pulse nightclub sign, to occur in March or April of 2026 in preparation for the permanent memorial’s construction. The sign will similarly be stored and “later added to the permanent memorial,” according to a city update. It’s unclear if other artifacts removed Monday will also be incorporated into the permanent memorial design.

Design concepts for the permanent memorial in the works include a survivor’s wall, visitor pavilion, a rainbow prism plaza and a reflection pool. The memorial will be open to the public 24/7.

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City staff remove artifacts from Pulse to prepare for memorial

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