Pulse Orlando site: Public input sought on memorial at town hall meeting

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando City Council reviewed plans for an interim memorial at the shuttered Pulse Orlando nightclub on Monday, hours before a public forum was held to discuss a permanent memorial at the site.

Commissioners met at 2 p.m. to review a requested permit to erect a new fence at the property and to add lighted benches, murals, landscaping, signage, security and off-site parking.

Pulse owner Barbara Poma would like to see the chain link fence around the property replaced with panels and a barrier that is more durable and able to hold up murals.

She would also like to add landscaping and benches to make it look like a more respected place, Poma told Channel 9.

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Poma did not say where the money to make the improvements will come from, but she wanted to move forward as quickly as possible.

"I think it's a way to help the community heal and move forward," she said. "I also feel the community needs a more dignified and respected place to pay their respects."

Community members were invited to the Orlando Repertory Theatre‎ at 6 p.m. for a town hall to explore options for a museum and a permanent tribute.

"We really felt that there was a need to bring the community into the process -- first and foremost -- to explain why we do it, how we do it," Poma said. "And in doing so, we tried to bring a great group of experts here to Orlando to help us walk through the process and walk this community through the process."

Earl Crittenden, chairman of the onePULSE Foundation, said Monday's forum is another step toward healing.

"The town hall is our first step to make sure the public and the community have a voice in the memorial process," Crittenden said. "The first act of engagement is for the public to fill out the survey."

The foundation's board members have traveled to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The board members will also visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum for research purposes.

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"The survey is the survey that (the National September 11 Memorial and Museum) used when they sent out data to their families and survivors and the stakeholders," Crittenden said. "It takes three minutes of your life, but it's how we base the data on what the memorial will look like."

Anthony Gardner, with the September 11 Memorial and Museum, lost a brother in the attack on the World Trade Center. It was important to him that part of the original buildings was preserved.

"For them to maybe benefit from our experience in some way," he said. "If we can help and inspire some of those people with direct experiences to get involved and be active and to have a voice in the process, I think that's really important."

Click here for free tickets to Monday's public forum, and click here to complete the memorial survey.

Cox Media Group