ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) — The site of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting is awaiting approval to be sold to the City of Orlando.
Multiple sources confirmed that the property owners struck a deal with the city earlier this month, according to a report from NBC affiliate WESH.
The proposal is expected to be approved by the Orlando City Council on Monday. The city will pay $2 million to property owners Barbara Poma, Rosario Poma and Mike Panaggio.
The Pulse nightclub site has been in limbo since 49 people were murdered and dozens more were wounded during the LGBTQ+ club’s “Latin Night” on June 12, 2016. The city tried to purchase the property months after the shooting, but Poma backed out of the deal.
Survivors of the attack and victims’ families have called for a permanent memorial on the site for years, but after the onePULSE Foundation severed ties with the property owners, they reached out to the city for help.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told the Orlando Sentinel that the city stepped in to “calm the situation down.” Dyer said there aren’t any concrete plans in place for the site or the former nightclub building, but it will include a memorial.
The Pulse massacre was the deadliest shooting in U.S. history at the time and is second only to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. It remains the deadliest attack against LGBTQ+ people in the U.S.