The Orlando City Council on Monday officially approved a funding agreement with Orange County to design and build a permanent memorial to the 49 people murdered in the Pulse Nightclub massacre.
The memorial at the site of the 2016 mass shooting is projected to cost $12 million. Under the agreement, the county pays $5 million and Orlando is responsible for the rest along with any cost overruns.
Orlando's costs also include about $3 million for the site itself and neighboring lots.
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City Commissioner Patty Sheehan said that, after years of frustration with the defunct nonprofit onePULSE Foundation, families of those killed by the gunman will finally get the memorial they want.
"[T]hose families can finally have a memorial they can be proud of to honor their loved ones," she said. "And that's what they really want, although they also wanted some meaningful gun change, you know, which we're not going to get, unfortunately, because these mass shootings keep happening over and over and over again."
Mayor Buddy Dyer said the Orlando community's recent response after the state painted over a memorial crosswalk at the site shows their commitment to honoring the slain.
People have rallied and protested and rechalked the rainbow crosswalk, even getting arrested by Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
"[W]e expect that the design will take about nine months, and that construction will begin next summer, can conclude the following year, ahead of me leaving office," Dyer said. "And that is an important thing for me. But there it will be a great permanent space for families of the victims and survivors in our community.
On Monday, the City Council also approved the design-and-build contract with Gomez Construction Company of Winter Park.
Dyer said the County Commission is expected to take up the agreement later this month.
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