demolition of the Pulse nightclub began<\/a>, nearly 10 years after a mass shooting killed 49 people.<\/p>\nFor Pastor Pierce \u2014 of Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando \u2014 the location isn\u2019t just a crime scene or a former club building.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here to offer a prayerful presence because people come to remember,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey come to reflect, they come to grieve. You know it has to end but it’s hard to let it end because it will always be sacred space.”<\/p>\n
Saying goodbye<\/p>\n
As demolition crews tore down the club, Pierce and others looked on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we want to be here just to be a presence, sit and cry with them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Her church has been a cornerstone for Orlando\u2019s LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a gay church. We exist because other churches didn\u2019t want us,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
Joy MCC has held a vigil every year since the night of the shooting in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a window in our church that has the 49 names on it,\u201d Pierce says, a permanent tribute to those who were lost.
She remembers the night itself as being almost too heavy to hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the whole community came because we\u2019re one of the few places that were doing something that night just because it was hard to do anything,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, they asked us not to because we weren\u2019t necessarily sure we\u2019d be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
A hope for healing<\/p>\n
While the building may be gone, the pain remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll never get over something like this, something so tragic,\u201d Pierce says.<\/p>\n
But she believes the memorial that will take its place can be a new space for healing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that love will ultimately win and it wins through us. You\u2019ll never get over something like this, something so tragic. We never want to forget, and we never will.\u201d<\/p>\n
A city\u2019s promise<\/p>\n
The memorial is part of a project led by the City of Orlando, which purchased the site in late 2023 to ensure a thoughtful, collaborative approach to honoring the lives lost.<\/p>\n
Through a Memorial Engagement Process, the city has worked closely with survivors, victims\u2019 families, and community members to design a place for solemn reflection \u2014 one that remembers the 49 victims and offers space for families, survivors, first responders, and the community to gather, unite, and heal.<\/p>\n
Plans include landscaped gardens, interactive exhibits, and quiet areas for people to sit with their thoughts.<\/p>\n
A permanent memorial is expected to open by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
For Pastor Pierce, the message is simple: \u201cWe never want to forget, and we never will.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the site where the Pulse nightclub in Orlando once stood, the heartbreak is palpable. \u201cYou do feel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-303213","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\/303213","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=303213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}