The city of Orlando, Fla., will buy the nightclub where 49 people were killed in June in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history in order to turn it into a memorial for the fallen.
The city plans to pay $2.25 million to purchase the Pulse nightclub with an eye toward converting it into a place of remembrance, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The nightclub, long a gathering for the city’s gay population, was the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history on June 12.
A gunman stormed the nightclub that night and killed 49 people and wounded 53 others before killing himself.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told the paper the process of turning the site into a memorial would be slow because many people want to see the club as a part of their trips to the city.
“There are lots of people that are making a visit to the site part of their trip, part of their experience of Orlando, so I think 12 to 18 months of leaving it as-is would be appropriate,” Dyer told the newspaper.
The nightclub site has been vacant since the shooting. The flood of visitors to the site has impeded other businesses in the area. Dyer said the city’s purchase would allow it to provide security and manage those disturbances better.
