ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Almost 10 years after 49 people were killed at Pulse nightclub, the city plans to tear down the building to make way for a permanent memorial. <\/p>\n
City workers removed the club\u2019s sign last week<\/a>, a first step in a careful, planned process that officials say will clear the site for the memorial. Items inside the building have been removed and preserved, the city said.<\/p>\n Demolition is scheduled to begin on Wednesday morning. Crews will start work at 7 a.m. by wetting the structure to reduce airborne dust, with dismantling expected to begin at 9 a.m. City officials said clearing the entire site likely will take several weeks. <\/p>\n Construction on the permanent memorial is planned to begin this fall, with officials estimating completion sometime in 2027. <\/p>\n The Pulse mass shooting happened on June 12, 2016, when a gunman killed 49 people and wounded dozens more. Mayor Buddy Dyer said survivors and victims\u2019 families have long said they want the site to become a place of remembrance and reflection.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly the outcry when the not-for-profit was trying to construct it, was talking about building it somewhere other than this site. We learned that it was very, very important that this sacred site, I think we knew that, but it was emphasized that this is a sacred site to those who loved the 49 and anybody else that visited Pulse,\u201d Mayor Dyer said Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a location that was not just for the LGBTQ community, it was largly, gay nights and Latin nights and things like that. Just about anyone was welcome, so it meant a lot to a lot of different people.\u201d <\/p>\n