ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced a plan Tuesday to use a noted conflict resolution expert to facilitate input from the families and survivors of the 2016 Pulse attack in the development of a permanent Pulse memorial.
Dyer also made it clear that the city would not be designing a museum, only a memorial.
The mayor introduced Dr. Larry Schooler, who has been selected to “implement a thoughtful, inclusive and efficient process for engaging and communicating with the victims’ families, the survivors and the community in the creation of a permanent memorial at the Pulse Nightclub site.”
Schooler teaches conflict resolution at the University of Texas at Austin. The city said Schooler also has been the lead on similar projects, such as the Virginia Beach 5-31 Memorial Committee and the San Leandro Steven Taylor Sanctity of Life Pavilion project.
Dyer said the memorial is also being run by a neutral facilitator, not the city, in the hopes of resolving some of the distrust in the community.
“This is a little bit different for us, we have not done this type of engagement before with people who have experienced such pain,” Dyer said. “So that’s why we have sought assistance.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Dyer said Schooler has already sent a letter to families and community survivors to ask if they wish to be involved. Dyer also said Schooler’s team will include fluent Spanish speakers, important since many of the victims and survivors were Latino.
“I believe that this community has the fortitude to do this hard work together, and I am honored to be in a position to help you with that work,” Schooler said.
Tuesday’s update is “meant to continue to further transparency around the city of Orlando’s development of a permanent memorial on the Pulse site and to keep the community updated on those efforts,” according to the city.
Dyer said the plan is to hold several meetings over the next few months, and come up with a conceptual design by the end of the year. The hope is to get the memorial up in the next few years.
“I have said that I am not running for reelection,” Dyer said, who was reelected to another four-year term last year. “I would like to cut a ribbon on this memorial.”
The city says it is just beginning to get families and survivors to sign up, but Dyer says the city also recognizes and respects that not everyone will want to be involved.
“We recognize that in the past families and survivors may have provided suggestions in the last effort for a memorial, and revisiting this process is probably going to be difficult for a lot of people,” Dyer said.
The city purchased the Pulse nightclub property in October after a tumultuous series of events over the summer that slowed down the construction of a memorial honoring those killed on June 12, 2016.
The onePulse Foundation, which spearheaded the memorial and museum efforts soon after the shooting, announced in April 2023 it was splitting up with Barbara Poma, who founded the organization.
OnePulse Foundation dissolved in the fall of last year, saying it no longer had the funding to handle the project.
Dyer said the cost of the new memorial will be split between public and private funds. That includes looking at any state or federal grants that are available.
Last month, Dyer invited families of victims and survivors to provide input in the permanent memorial. He also said the Pulse remembrance ceremony will take place at the Dr. Phillips Center on Wednesday, June 12, and the CommUNITY Rainbow Run will happen on June 8. To register for the run, click here.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: