ORLANDO, Fla. — The future memorial for the victims of the attack on Pulse nightclub will not be built on the same site as the tragedy.

Officials with the onePULSE foundation reports they have been unable to reach an agreement with nightclub owners Barbara and Rosario Poma for the donation of the property.

OnePULSE says they plan to provide an update in the coming weeks on potential candidates for alternative locations.

For many, the news was disappointing. Those that lost a loved one or are connected to the tragedy have been waiting a long time for the memorial to be completed.

Rob Lauzon is UCF’s first Post-Doctoral scholar and specializes in the study of memorials around the world. He said that memorials are important and can be emotion-filled.

“I think having it in the location where people can come, and to grieve and remember, in a location where the tragedy happened is important,” Lauzon said.

Although the words “memorial” and “museum” may sometimes be used interchangeably, in this case, the distinction is important. The onePULSE Foundation’s goal is to create a museum and a memorial — two separate projects — to honor the victims of the 2016 Pulse massacre.

The memorial is the project affected by Tuesday’s announcement of the failed negotiations between the foundation and property owner Barbara Poma. The museum project is already well underway, supported in part by a $10 million Tourist Development Tax (TDT) grant from Orange County. 

Orange County dedicated that grant in 2018 to pay for the future Pulse museum’s land acquisition and design. Since both of those tasks are already done, the $10 million grant has largely been expended at this point, a county spokesperson confirmed Wednesday to Spectrum News. 

No TDT funds have been used or set aside for a memorial at the Pulse site itself, partly because, unlike museums, memorials are not eligible for TDT funding, according to Orange County. 

The National Pulse Memorial was envisioned to become “a place of sanctuary and commemoration,” according to a letter addressed to The onePULSE Foundation’s stakeholders, which appears in a 2021 financial audit.

Per the nonprofit organization’s 2021 tax forms, which are publicly available, onePULSE had a net income that year of just over a million dollars, and paid a five-member team of executives a total of more than $500,000. 

But the previous year, onePULSE Foundation ran a deficit of more than $111,000, according to its 2020 tax form. That year, the same five executives also earned a collective total of over $500,000. 

That half-a-million-dollar sum included about $101,000 for Poma, the nonprofit’s CEO and executive director, who owns the former Pulse nightclub property. 

The onePULSE Foundation spends approximately 80% of the donations it receives on charitable activities, according to Chief Communications Officer Scott Bowman, who responded Wednesday to written questions from Spectrum News. The other 20% is split evenly between administrative costs and fundraising, Bowman wrote in an email. 

Spectrum News’ Watchdog team is working to confirm those percentages. 

In a response to a question about how onePULSE helps victims, Bowman provided the following written statement:

“The onePULSE Foundation does not provide direct services. The Foundation has a full-time position that focuses on assisting family members and survivors by linking them to direct service providers. The Foundation provides annual scholarships up to $10,000 per year in honor of the 49 victims and to date, we have distributed more than $1.2 million to scholars across the country. To date, 16 family members, 14 Pulse Survivors and two Pulse first responders have received scholarships. The Foundation also conducts two to three Family Days per year, to provide them with time to gather in an uplifting atmosphere, spend quality time connecting with one another, and ultimately, create bonds of support that are crucial to the healing process. The Foundation also works with other Pulse-affected nonprofits to provide communal space during the annual Pulse Remembrance Week,” Bowman said.

City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings were unavailable Wednesday to speak with Spectrum News, but they shared the following written statements: 

“I trust in the wisdom of the OnePulse Foundation to do what is best for the organization. I know the Foundation will continue to work to uplift the community and support those directly affected by the tragedy,” Demings said.

“The City of Orlando continues to stand with the OnePulse Foundation in their efforts to honor the victims, survivors and all those impacted by the Pulse tragedy. We will continue to support the dedicated work of the Foundation to honor and preserve the legacy of those taken and their efforts to create a sanctuary of hope here in our community,” Dyer said in a response.