ORLANDO, Fla. — A pair of groups representing Pulse survivors and families of victims sent letters to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer asking for input on any future memorials after the city purchased the nightclub property for $2 million.
They also included recommendations for the use of the site.
Pulse Families and Survivors for Justice — which opposed the city's purchase — sent a letter to Dyer Thursday expressing opposition to any individual from the onePULSE Foundation from being involved in any future memorial.
After receiving $10 million in Orange County Tourist Development Tax funds to build a Pulse museum, onePULSE announce in late October that it was no longer moving forward with the plan.
"The nonprofit should be immediately shut down and every designated donation should be given back to donors who trusted them to build a memorial and care for survivors. They did neither," the group said in its letter.
The group also called for unity in moving forward.
"We think everyone needs to get together and anything is drafted or given to the mayor, we all need to agree on it," Pulse Families and Survivors for Justice representative Zachary Blair said.
A separate letter from a different group of Pulse survivors and families of victims was also sent to Dyer, and outlined what it said are ways family members and survivors would like to help and said they want a permanent memorial built on the site.
The letter also said:
- Family members and survivors said they would like to actively participate in all phases of planning and construction of the memorial
- The onePULSE Foundation should not be included in design plans and operations after completion
- The city should own and operate the memorial site after construction is completed
- The city should address allegations of safety and code violations at Pulse as of the night of the shooting
In response to a question about the letter, Dyer issued a statement that said: "The city is committed to taking a thoughtful, collaborative approach to understand the history of the effort to create a memorial up until this point and working with the victims' families and survivors to ensure there is a memorial at the Pulse site that honors the victims, those impacted by the tragedy and pays tribute to the resiliency of Orlando."