Pulse nightclub, a long-shuttered LGBTQ-friendly venue in Orlando, Florida, began coming down on Wednesday as construction crews cleared the site for a permanent memorial to the 49 people killed in the June 12, 2016, mass shooting. Workers began tearing down walls inside and around the building that still bore bullet holes from the attack, which left dozens dead and 53 other people wounded. The demolition is intended to replace the structure tied to the attack with a new site for public remembrance.
Orlando officials have said the memorial will pay tribute to the victims of the 2016 shooting and is designed as a permanent project rather than a temporary remembrance. The plan is to honor those killed during the attack at the Pulse nightclub, where the shooting began during a Latin night celebration and ended after police killed the gunman during a standoff.
The redevelopment effort depends on the city’s ownership of the property. The city of Orlando purchased the Pulse nightclub site in 2023 for $2 million, setting up plans for a separate construction project on the parcel where the club operated nearly a decade ago.
City plans call for a $12 million permanent memorial, with an opening date set for 2027. The scope and cost of the project come after years of disputes over control of the property, including an earlier, unsuccessful effort to buy the site led by a foundation run by the club’s former owner.
That history has played out amid broader disputes over LGBTQ+ symbolism in public space. The memorial plan now arrives at a time when advocates and officials have clashed over how LGBTQ+ history should be displayed, including after federal officials removed a pride flag outside the Stonewall National Monument.
A National Park Service memo cited federal limits on the flags that agencies may fly, stating that the NPS cannot display flags besides the U.S. flag and the flag of the Department of the Interior. Similar tensions emerged in Orlando, where local officials disputed with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the treatment of LGBTQ-associated imagery in the area around Pulse.
Last year in Orlando, workers painted over a rainbow mural on the crosswalk in front of Pulse after the Florida Department of Transportation issued a memo that prohibited “surface art” tied to “social, political or ideological messages or images” that is not used for traffic control. Those disputes over public symbols have underscored how questions about commemoration and visibility intersect in political conflict.
The demolition also follows the original attack by the man who carried out the 2016 shooting at Pulse. The attacker had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, according to reporting on the case.
The transition from demolition to construction will determine what replaces the building itself. City officials have outlined the memorial’s price tag and target opening year, while the destruction of the remaining structure marks the end of an era for the Pulse site as the planning for the new memorial moves forward.