onePULSE Foundation to no longer oversee interim memorial, citing permitting issues
The onePULSE Foundation will stop managing the interim Pulse memorial at the former nightclub property as it looks to settle a permitting issue with the owners of the site.
On Thursday, the nonprofit organization said officials had recently learned a city of Orlando permit allowing for the use of the property expired in May 2022.
Deborah Bowie, the executive director of the foundation, said without a temporary use permit in effect, the foundation cannot legally operate the former club on South Orange Avenue.
“It’s concerning because it opens up the foundation to considerable risk and liability,” she told the Orlando Sentinel. “If there’s no permit, there’s no lease.”
The temporary use permit was issued in 2018 and offered three, one-year renewals, Bowie said.
On Wednesday, onePULSE Foundation sent an email through their legal counsel informing the nightclub property owners it will stop paying monthly operating expenses on Aug. 31. It added the foundation will pay for the pro-rata property tax for the current year in an effort to ensure a “smooth transition in management.”
A spokesperson for Barbara Poma, a co-owner of the property and the foundation’s former executive director, said that it was the foundation’s responsibility to renew the permit according to its lease agreement.
Meanwhile, the foundation stated it was the property owners’ responsibility to renew the permit in order to honor the lease, which is in effect until April of next year.
Until then, the lease is rendered moot, leaving an uncertain future for the interim memorial and items like its 150-yard photo wall that exhibits Pulse vigils and LGBTQ artwork.
In regards to renewing a temporary use permit, Orlando spokesperson Ashley Papagni said “such requests for an extension would have required the property owners consent.”
In a prepared statement, the Pomas said they were disappointed by the foundation’s decision.
“It is disappointing that the onePULSE Foundation has chosen to completely abdicate all of its responsibilities to the existing and future memorial rather than pursue a collaborative approach to find a thoughtful transition for the site management,” the statement read.
“We will evaluate the status of the property to determine the next steps.”
The third property owner, Michael Panaggio, a businessman from Daytona Beach, was not immediately available to comment.
The onePULSE Foundation claimed its members were not aware of the expired permit because it was a matter handled by the ownership of the property.
Officials at the organization are planning to develop a new memorial and museum in Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood to honor the 49 lives lost in the Pulse 2016 massacre.
The plans have been scaled down and reconfigured after Bowie said board members learned it could cost as much as $100 million to build a previously sought after project designed by Coldefy and Orlando-based HHCP Architects in 2019.
The site of the nightclub property was intended to be donated, but plans fell through after the foundation announced it did not reach an agreement with the property owners.
“Following failed negotiations with the property owners for the full donation of the Pulse nightclub property, onePULSE has no legal authority to manage the site, nor handle its day-to-day care, and security,” the foundation said in a statement. “Therefore, these matters have now become the sole responsibility of the property owners.”
