{"id":196734,"date":"2026-03-18T18:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/196734\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T18:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:53:16","slug":"orlando-begins-demolition-of-pulse-nightclub-site-of-2016-mass-shooting-that-killed-49-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/196734\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando begins demolition of Pulse nightclub, site of 2016 mass shooting that killed 49 | Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Demolition of Pulse, the LGBTQ+<\/a>-friendly nightclub in Florida<\/a> where 49 people were killed in 2016, began on Wednesday, bringing a symbolic end to an almost decade-long wrangle over the future of the building that some residents and its former owners wanted to be preserved as a memorial for the victims.<\/p>\n

A new $12m permanent memorial<\/a> will be built on the site, with final plans expected to be revealed in May, and its completion scheduled for fall 2027.<\/p>\n

The design will include a reflection pool and private spaces to honor those killed, while finer details including landscaping and other features will be finalized in consultation with victims\u2019 families. The Pulse shooting was, at the time, the nation\u2019s deadliest mass shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a sacred site to those who loved the 49 and anybody else that had visited Pulse,\u201d Buddy Dyer, Orlando\u2019s mayor, said at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of the demolition, reported by Fox35 News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dyer said the club was welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community and a diverse range of other patrons, and that he hoped the memorial would be a site of healing for a city that would never forget those who were killed.<\/p>\n

He also recalled<\/a> the night of 12 June 2016, when the gunman, Omar Mateen, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group, opened fire with an assault-style rifle and moved through the nightclub shooting at will before eventually taking his own life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember that very vividly, getting the calls shortly after 2 o\u2019clock and then being on site through the remainder of the morning,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cJust the sadness of it all. 49 lives extinguished that night for no reason at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years of delays plagued original plans to preserve the site in some form and commemorate the victims. One proposal, by a group founded by Pulse owners Barbara and Rosario Poma<\/a>, included selling merchandise and charging admission.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal was to do a memorial, not to do a museum,\u201d Orlando city commissioner Patty Sheehan told the Guardian<\/a> last year. \u201cThere was concern about how they were going to, you know, make it a tourist attraction.\u201d<\/p>\n

That group, the onePulse Foundation, collapsed in 2023<\/a> after squandering millions of dollars in donations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In October 2023, the city of Orlando bought the site<\/a>, setting in motion a lengthy process of consultation, planning and tendering that led to Wednesday\u2019s demolition and a significant step toward the end of what will have been an 11-year saga, assuming construction proceeds on schedule.<\/p>\n

Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf<\/a>, who lost friends in the shooting, told the Fox affiliate that the demolition of the remains of the club, which commenced shortly before dawn on Wednesday, watched by a handful of curious locals, helped lift a lingering cloud over the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready to move forward,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m ready to see a beautiful reverent memorial be in that space where people can come, where they can reflect, where they can be close to their loved ones. I know that\u2019s the space I feel close with the best friends who came to the club with me that night and did not get to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Demolition of Pulse, the LGBTQ+-friendly nightclub in Florida where 49 people were killed in 2016, began on Wednesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-196734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}