Orlando city leaders look to other national sites for Pulse memorial inspiration

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando City Council will vote Monday on a proposal to purchase the Pulse nightclub for more than $2 million with plans to turn the site into a memorial for the 49 people killed there on June 12.

While Mayor Buddy Dyer has said the property would remain as it is for a year or more, city leaders have said plans for the memorial design have started and they are looking to other national memorials for inspiration.

City commissioner and LGBTQ advocate Patty Sheehan said memorials like the one in Oklahoma City are being examined.

“I think it’s really going to be beautiful and I think it’s appropriate to memorialize these 49 lost, 53 injured (and) hundreds traumatized,” she said. “But more so, (to memorialize) the impact this has had on the LGBTQ community.”

Sheehan also said she would like to see a portion of the memorial function as an educational experience about equality.

Cox Media Group