ORLANDO, Fla. — The Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee met Wednesday night in one of the last meetings of the year, as the city of Orlando moves forward with plans to have a permanent memorial by 2026.

What You Need To Know

  • The Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee began conversations this week on what the planned permanent memorial will look like

  • The goal is to have a design concept recommendation for the city by the end of 2024

  • The city of Orlando is hoping to have the site completed by June 2026

  • A meeting Thursday is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Orlando City Hall. The meeting can be attended in person or virtually

The meeting started the conversation at the top of many peoples' minds, which is what the memorial will look like to honor the 49 killed and more than 50 wounded in the 2016 terror attack at the once popular gay nightclub. 

The deadline to provide a design concept to the city is by the end of the year, with three other meetings scheduled.

To help them reach their goal, a team of design assistants from the city were there to offer guidance and assistance in this next crucial step of the process.

“The hope by end of tonight … The end of tomorrow. They can take a preliminary design concept out to the public, to the community, to families and survivors and get some feedback and be prepared next month to integrate that feedback into more advanced design for memorial,” said Dr. Larry Schooler, the lead facilitator of the Pulse memorial committee.

Designers conducted a thorough analysis of the site and identified various elements that they thought would fit well together, based on feedback from committee members at previous meetings.

Some of those elements include the possibility of having a water feature at the site, shade trees, noise mitigation and adequate parking spaces.

It’s a process that Schooler says requires a lot of communication, since they have to identify what they’re going to do with over one acre of space there.

“This needs to be a project and a process that feels unifying,” he said. “So in order to do that, you spend extra time seeking consensus and you arrive hopefully at a place where everybody can support what is being brought forth. It doesn’t mean it’s their first choice, but it means that they’re satisfied that it meets their interests enough.”

Schooler said he’s confident that a consensus will be reached for the design of the memorial by the end of the year.

He’s hoping to get the concept approved by early 2025 and built shortly after.

Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday night from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The final meeting is set for Dec. 12 at 4 p.m., and if all goes as planned, the goal would be to have a completed memorial by June 2026, marking 10 years since that tragic day.

Thursday night’s meeting will be held at Orlando City Hall, and if you cannot attend in person, you can join virtually. Click here to view the agenda.