\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis story is part of the WESH 2 Chronicle: Life after Pulse 10 years later SURVIVORS REFLECT | REMEMBRANCE EVENTS | FRIDAY BELL RINGING | RAINBOW RUN | REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS | THE DEMISE OF ONEPULSE | SURVIVORS WANT ANSWERS | WHAT HAPPENED AT PULSEPlans for a permanent memorial to honor the 49 lives lost in the Pulse nightclub tragedy are moving forward, but survivors and victims’ families are divided over design elements and accountability 10 years later.The Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee comprising family members, survivors and community members, developed design concepts for the memorial. The proposed design includes a memorial and reflection space, Survivor’s Commons, private gathering areas, an Angel Ellipse site, a “Healing Prism Garden”, a reflection pool and a visitor pavilion. “Grief never ends. Nobody wants to hear that, but it does evolve,” said Dan-Michael Trbovich of Borrelli & Partners. “We’re trying to make space for that notion that grief is the cost that we have for connections to our loved ones and the people we have lost.”At a recent public meeting, the companies unveiled design renderings that are now 60% complete. “We’re taking components from the original building, for example, a section of the dance floor itself will be placed at the foundation of the reflection pool to tie it in, to make it personal,” Trbovich said. “We’re looking to salvaging much of the concrete work and placing it everywhere throughout the site.”However, the plans have drawn criticism from some survivors and victims’ families.”How does reusing crime scene materials respect the victims and survivors who bled and died in the restrooms and on the dance floor?” said Christine Hanavan. “Will the reflecting pool include any floorboards permanently stained by blood, or will those be excluded?”Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer acknowledged the concerns raised by survivors and families.”There’s certainly going to be\u2014I wouldn’t say major changes\u2014but there will be modifications,” Dyer said. “Our staff has done yeoman’s work; they’ve been able to contact all 49 families to get exactly how they would like the name of their loved one.”Opponents of the memorial have also called for criminal investigations into the safety of the Pulse nightclub. Two years ago, police reports were filed with Orlando police, but the investigation was closed, citing no reckless disregard for human life or safety. A year ago, a detailed report was delivered to the state attorney’s office, but last week, State Attorney Monique Worrell informed the group that the evidence does not meet the threshold for charges.Now, the group is urging the Florida Legislature to convene an independent commission, similar to the one established after the Parkland shooting, to investigate potential systemic failures.”I have a lot of lingering questions about how we got to this place, and I think a lot of people do,” said Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf. “It’s about accountability, it’s about honesty, it’s about transparency. Healing requires real reconciliation. It requires the hard conversations, the tough questions.”Wolf has spent years advocating for LGBTQ equality and gun control in Washington, D.C., and now brings his fight back to Orlando, working with Equality Florida.”I think Florida has to be the starting point for what resilience and resistance looks like in this country because this is a place where they think they’ve got it in the bag,” Wolf said.He emphasized that accountability is not just about the past. “This is a community whose DNA has been under assault on every level of government for years now,” Wolf said. “I hope 10 years is a moment to recommit to honoring the people we lost, not just with flags or with pretty colors, but with our actions.” Wolf remains inspired by the love and compassion that filled Orlando in the aftermath of the tragedy. “Orlando has that kind of courage in spades, and it is my hope that five years from now, 10 years from now, people are inspired by our courage to go fight in their own communities,” he said. Through it all, the heart of the story remains unchanged: 49 people went out to dance and never came home. Ten years later, their names and lives still matter, and for many in Orlando, the responsibility to honor them never ends.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
This story is part of the WESH 2 Chronicle: Life after Pulse<\/a> 10 years later SURVIVORS REFLECT <\/a>| REMEMBRANCE EVENTS<\/a> | FRIDAY BELL RINGING<\/a> | RAINBOW RUN<\/a> | REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS <\/a>| THE DEMISE OF ONEPULSE<\/a> | SURVIVORS WANT ANSWERS <\/a>| WHAT HAPPENED AT PULSE<\/a><\/p>\n Plans for a permanent memorial to honor the 49 lives lost in the Pulse nightclub tragedy are moving forward, but survivors and victims’ families are divided over design elements and accountability 10 years later.<\/p>\n The Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee comprising family members, survivors and community members, developed design concepts for the memorial. The proposed design includes a memorial and reflection space, Survivor’s Commons, private gathering areas, an Angel Ellipse site, a “Healing Prism Garden”, a reflection pool and a visitor pavilion. <\/p>\n “Grief never ends. Nobody wants to hear that, but it does evolve,” said Dan-Michael Trbovich of Borrelli & Partners. “We’re trying to make space for that notion that grief is the cost that we have for connections to our loved ones and the people we have lost.”<\/p>\n At a recent public meeting, the companies unveiled design renderings that are now 60% complete. <\/p>\n “We’re taking components from the original building, for example, a section of the dance floor itself will be placed at the foundation of the reflection pool to tie it in, to make it personal,” Trbovich said. “We’re looking to salvaging much of the concrete work and placing it everywhere throughout the site.”<\/p>\n However, the plans have drawn criticism from some survivors and victims’ families.<\/p>\n “How does reusing crime scene materials respect the victims and survivors who bled and died in the restrooms and on the dance floor?” said Christine Hanavan. “Will the reflecting pool include any floorboards permanently stained by blood, or will those be excluded?”<\/p>\n Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer acknowledged the concerns raised by survivors and families.<\/p>\n “There’s certainly going to be\u2014I wouldn’t say major changes\u2014but there will be modifications,” Dyer said. “Our staff has done yeoman’s work; they’ve been able to contact all 49 families to get exactly how they would like the name of their loved one.”<\/p>\n Opponents of the memorial have also called for criminal investigations into the safety of the Pulse nightclub. <\/p>\n Two years ago, police reports were filed with Orlando police, but the investigation was closed, citing no reckless disregard for human life or safety. A year ago, a detailed report was delivered to the state attorney’s office, but last week, State Attorney Monique Worrell informed the group that the evidence does not meet the threshold for charges.<\/p>\n Now, the group is urging the Florida Legislature to convene an independent commission, similar to the one established after the Parkland shooting, to investigate potential systemic failures.<\/p>\n “I have a lot of lingering questions about how we got to this place, and I think a lot of people do,” said Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf. “It’s about accountability, it’s about honesty, it’s about transparency. Healing requires real reconciliation. It requires the hard conversations, the tough questions.”<\/p>\n Wolf has spent years advocating for LGBTQ equality and gun control in Washington, D.C., and now brings his fight back to Orlando, working with Equality Florida.<\/p>\n “I think Florida has to be the starting point for what resilience and resistance looks like in this country because this is a place where they think they’ve got it in the bag,” Wolf said.<\/p>\n He emphasized that accountability is not just about the past. <\/p>\n “This is a community whose DNA has been under assault on every level of government for years now,” Wolf said. “I hope 10 years is a moment to recommit to honoring the people we lost, not just with flags or with pretty colors, but with our actions.” <\/p>\n Wolf remains inspired by the love and compassion that filled Orlando in the aftermath of the tragedy. <\/p>\n “Orlando has that kind of courage in spades, and it is my hope that five years from now, 10 years from now, people are inspired by our courage to go fight in their own communities,” he said. <\/p>\n Through it all, the heart of the story remains unchanged: 49 people went out to dance and never came home. Ten years later, their names and lives still matter, and for many in Orlando, the responsibility to honor them never ends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of the WESH 2 Chronicle: Life after Pulse 10 years later SURVIVORS REFLECT |…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[7852,127563,25383,1089,1210,139,141,140,1120,992,85029,36343,127661,15785,6411,918,116961,164],"class_list":["post-304755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-accountability","tag-chronicle","tag-community-member","tag-family","tag-life","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-police","tag-people","tag-permanent-memorial","tag-pulse","tag-reflection-pool","tag-survivor","tag-victim","tag-wesh","tag-wolf","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304755","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=304755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/p>\n