onePulse Foundation says it’s abandoning museum plan, returning land to the Orange County
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The nonprofit onePulse Foundation has abandoned plans to build a museum near the site of the former nightclub, its representatives told Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings in a meeting Friday afternoon.
In that meeting, leaders of the onePulse Foundation offered to return land purchased five years ago with Tourist Development Tax money to the county, which the county accepted, Earl Crittenden, the outgoing chairman of the Board of Trustees said in a written statement.
The TDT, or bed tax, is a 6% levy on all hotel room or short-term rental stays in Orange County. It has been used to build venues like the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and Amway Center. TDT dollars have been used to fund arts groups and provide incentives to attract sporting events to the region.
“After careful consideration regarding the scope of our proposed projects, including conversations with victims’ families, survivors, and the local community, as well as unforeseen challenges, the onePULSE Foundation Board of Trustees has decided it is no longer feasible to move forward with the plan to develop a museum,” the statement reads. “Now, more than ever, it’s imperative to realize the much-needed National Pulse Memorial as an everlasting sanctuary of hope to memorialize the 49 Angels and remember this tragedy, and to teach love and acceptance for generations to come.”
Crittenden announced his resignation as chairman of the board this week.
In 2018, onePulse was was awarded up to $10 million in TDT money toward the museum project, and to date has been issued $6.5 million, county officials say. That includes the $3.5 million purchase price of 1.7 acres on West Kaley Street where the museum was planned, as well as $3 million toward design costs.
That’s separate from a long-planned memorial on the site of the nightclub itself. That land on South Orange Avenue was purchased by the city of Orlando Friday, which plans to build the memorial there, where 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded on June 12, 2016. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
In a statement, Demings said he planned to schedule a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners to further discuss the situation.
“I understand how difficult this decision was for the foundation and the future of the organization is uncertain,” he said. “The circumstances have taken an emotional toll on the families and survivors of the Pulse tragedy, as we continue to honor the 49 angels. I will be scheduling a Board of County Commission meeting to update the Board and make determinations regarding the next steps for Orange County. We will continue to keep the community informed.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the foundation started to raise money with a mission to craft and build a memorial and museum, taking note from several other foundations that formed in the wake of a tragedy like the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.
But some Pulse survivors and family members of victims did not agree with the development of a large-scale capital project that they say used their stories in order to fundraise and attract donors.
Pulse survivor Norman Casiano, 33, has been vocally against the museum for years.
“It always felt very exploitative,” he said. “I went through something so horrible there; my brother and sister went through something horrible there. Mothers lost children there. It’s not something that people should go pay to see and have memorabilia on display.”
The foundation was started in 2016 by Barbara Poma, the now-former owner of the nightclub, with plans of building a memorial and funding scholarships. On Friday, she formally sold the Pulse property to the city of Orlando for $2 million.
Controversy followed, with criticisms ranging from high salaries for Poma and other executives, to limited progress on the memorial. She stepped down as executive director in 2021, and left the organization altogether earlier this year.
In 2019, it announced plans for both a memorial and a towering museum nearby, in what at the time they deemed the “Pulse District” in the area south of Downtown Orlando. The proposal was estimated as a $45 million project, though plans shifted earlier this year when Board members learned it could be around a $100 million pricetag with steep operating costs.
At the time, Deborah Bowie, the executive director of onePulse, said the foundation was working toward putting a scaled-down museum in the 47,000 foot Kaley Street warehouse.
In a letter to Demings, Crittenden said that wasn’t enough to save the museum project.
In a statement of her own, Bowie said onePulse’s board was reevaluating its mission.
“With all of the recent developments, the onePULSE Foundation Board of Trustees is in the process of reevaluating its mission to make sure it aligns with the new realities,” she said. “We will keep everyone updated as those discussions evolve and decisions are made as to the best way to honor the lives of the 49 Angels and all those impacted by the Pulse tragedy.”
