City Council - Regular Meeting

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Good morning and welcome to the June 8th 2026 workshop of the Orlando City Council. Commissioners, we have 2 workshops today we're going to begin with a workshop on the pulse Memorial Friday is going to mark 10 years since the pulse tragedy a decade has passed since the lives of 49 people were taken and countless others forever impacted. We're continuing to send love and hope to the victims' families and survivors, first responders and medical professionals and all those impacted. And I'm proud that we continue to honor the 49 in many different ways that we'll mark this week. But one of them is the creation of a permanent memorial. And obviously, you know that we purchased the site a couple of years ago and had begun that process. And Heather is going to update us on that.

Thank you, Mayor Dyer and good morning commissioners. We're going to do a brief update on the Pulse Memorial. Is it on yet? Is on there? OK. To hit first. There we go, perfect. OK, before we get started, I would like to start. OK, maybe not. Oh, here let me try the clicker. I would like to start by taking a moment of silence to remember the 49 angels. Commissioners, I'd like to note that the names on this slide is an effort of an undertaking as part of the memorial process. For the first time in the 10 years since the city team took it over, we have made contact with all 49 next of kin to be able to confirm how they each want their angel's name spelled and if they have a preferred nickname that they would prefer to have used. And we have also asked them for a preferred photo of their choice, and over half of them have provided those to us. And so those photos will be used as part of the remembrance ceremony on Friday. And so there were some corrections to some names or some hyphenations or things like that. And so we're very proud of the city's team, the neighborhood team and our staff at Greenwood Cemetery, who helped to outreach to all 49 of the next of kin to help achieve that. And they're staying in contact with them throughout the memorial process to keep them updated and to continue to get additional information from them. So a little reminder of how we got here, because we do have two new commissioners since we've started this process. But in October of 2023, the city purchased the Pulse site with plans to build a permanent memorial. That was after hearing from family members who are concerned that the foundation was no longer planning to build the memorial on the Pulse site. In April of 2024, we began the memorial engagement process, and that was really selecting a Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee, which we selected 18 people out of the 150 that applied to be on the committee. Almost all of them had a connection to Pulse, whether that was being an actual survivor, a family member of a victim, or they worked there, attended there. The one had some design expertise that we thought was important to the process. So they held their first meeting in July and had meetings throughout the remainder of the year. One or two was canceled because of hurricanes. Since we live in Florida, that's always something that we have to deal with. And so in February of 2025 was the last time that I was here at Council, and we presented the conceptual design that the advisory committee had created. After that time, we went out for a design build RFP and selected Gomez and Borelli and partners as the city's design and construction partners. And then in September of 2025, council approved that agreement and we began the design work. As part of that design, we also began working on the building and we removed several of the artifacts that were left within the building, things like disco balls and chandeliers and posters, things that could help tell the story of what Pulse was before we took the building down. And then In March, we actually took the building down and had our 30% design public meeting. We committed throughout the process to have two public meetings at the 30% and then at the 60%. We did the 60% design meeting just last month in May, and we plan to commence construction in September. And so with that, I will introduce the design team to talk more detail. George Borelli.

Thank you, Heather. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Commissioners. It's an honor to be here, and thank you. It's truly an honor to have been selected for this long-awaited, important project. My name is Jorge Borelli. I'm the principal president in charge of Borelli and Partners Architects. With me here today is Steve Gomez. Sorry. Steve Corot with Gomez Construction. They are our construction, our build partner. Dan Turbovich is a senior project manager and senior associate with our firm. He's the architect leading this team of 1,000. A lot of firms, you know, I won't go into every one, but two other key people on our team are out of New York. They're our exhibition and media design team. They are helping with the interpretive message for this memorial, and that is local projects, and they're represented by Nico Guillaume and Amanda White. so this concept began with the committee uh... and the committee developed a pulse memorial mission their concept echoed and reflected that mission which you see in this document that was developed and this is what the city used for the rfp and it was called the design control document and you'll see the elements in the lower right hand corner that include the memorial the healing garden the memorial plaza the survivors common the angel ellipse the private gathering area and the visitor pavilion And we took this concept and we're bringing it to reality now in the design build process. This is our 60% complete presentation and we're on track to meet the deadline and get the memorial started for construction in September. More on that later in the presentation. So here's our current progress on the 60%. You can see all the elements are still represented with the Prism Tower Plaza on Orange and Esther Street. You see the large ellipse in the foreground of this picture, and those will be honoring the 49 Angels. Dan will touch a little bit more on that in a second. The visitor pavilion, you'll see kind of tucked into the existing trees to the left, to the west side of the image. And then to the probably north corner is peeking out of the existing trees. A tree line is the visitor pavilion. And in the central, you'll have the memorial plaza, fountain, reflecting pool, and obelisk. And Dan's going to jump into some more of the details of each of these elements so you can understand some of the design interpretation. Dan?

Thanks, George. What we're looking at here is a view from Esther Street into the memorial proper itself. What was important to the design team was the degree of transparency, views, ventilation, and natural Florida sunshine. But you're also having an element symbolically looking back in time from this perspective. You're outside of the event in a tragic area, which will be defined by the memorial proper itself. And the ellipse itself is an important element that radiates and pulses from the actual generation of that tragic site. And I'll go into a little bit more detail on some of that, but we wanted to be able to sit down and showcase the visual appearance and the visual process that a typical visitor will actually experience, and particularly survivors and those of the family members. This is a view of the inner ring of the Angel Ellipse. What you'll see, it encompasses the entire site and memorial area proper itself, just to the right. The signal element to a lot of this is that this is an area where Family members and visitors can come to visit a particular angel. You'll note that there are name plates as well as national identity flags associated with that, as well as an alcove for actual gathering of individuals, family members, away from the main line of traffic throughout the site. The pillars themselves are color-coded. They are color-coded based on the entire range of the rainbow spectrum. circulating the site and then you'll if you notice subtly in the upper two panels is a photo interpretive cutouts of a ripple of the panelings themselves. The importance here is we wanted to showcase the notion of layering in depth of color presence as well as that notion of a memory ripple going throughout time and reinforce the notion of the ellipse doing just that. You'll see that in the hardscapes as well. This area here is within the private gathering area. It's located outside of the ellipse line, looking directly towards that back wall, which is actually the survivor's wall. It's an important area for us to identify those areas where you can have a sense of healing, a sense of retrospection beyond the tragedy itself. we have a specifically we're looking at investigating a series of quotes specifically would be original to that but the interior of the private gathering this is an area in which along the bench seating just along that back area that granite space those are actual capsules for uh personal effects of the 49 angels and so in a very symbolic way this is the area in which you can come to be surrounded by those angels uh it's a very it's a very solemn place it's supposed to be introspective contemplative, it's there to also promote healing because much of this tragedy occurred not only of the night of the event but was prolonged with the lack of healing and the suffering and the trauma that resonated throughout our community and we wanted to make sure that we provided a space where people can reflect and have a chance to heal. And that was a very important concept as we took on the documentation from the design control documents, is we wanted to provide those opportunities inherent with the design beyond physical elements, which I'll talk about in a minute. This is part of the Survivor's Common, again, outside of the Memorial Plaza itself. It's an area for light gathering, contemplative nature, to be in touch with natural elements, sunshine, and the environment. But in particular, we have a symbolic architectural reference of a tree. for that. Of particular note, we're looking at utilizing an olive tree for all the symbolic elements that the olive tree represents. Longevity, resilience, forgiveness, peace, solitude. As well as being just a magnificent specimen. So we are looking at an H tree that is well developed for this particular area and it's a fairly open common ground for people to gather, kind of sit, contemplate, but it provides an opportunity to to detach yourself from a lot of the triggering events of the memorials themselves. Memorials themselves are not a passive element. They're an act of engagement, and sometimes you have to provide for that relief, otherwise it becomes overly daunting. We wanted to make sure that this memorial place was peaceful, respectful, and contemplative in nature, and we have to balance that with the elements of remembrance as well and the act of engagement. This is actually several components all at once. This is the Memorial Plaza. The most specific element that I'd like to highlight is the perimeter of the Memorial Plaza itself. It actually outlines the original nightclub, and it's done with rainbow banding. You can see a touch of it underneath the reflecting pool, but that colorization will actually go along the entire perimeter of the actual memorial itself, which actually encompasses the original building and the tragedy site. The reflecting pool, while having kind of artistic impressions of dance and movement and memory and that memory ripple, again, is location symbolically within the public gathering areas of the original building. So much of the community was gathered within that specific area. We wanted to make sure that we were representing that component very directly. It's bookend onto the right with a water feature with quotes in both English and Spanish for those who wanted to dance by our Daniel Foster, as well as the Pulse heartbeat logo. What you'll see below that is a listing of all the angels' names. It is here that they're actually represented together as a group within that Pulse site. Whereas on the Angel Ellipse, they're actually represented individually. So inside the perimeter of the site, they're collective. Outside, they're individual. In the very background, we have what we call the obelisk. And that is the site of the SWAT breach wall that was the termination of the event. For many survivors, it is a point of terror. that they do not wish to remember the others it is a point of salvation that their life began anew we know memorials are active engagement sites this is probably one of those challenging areas that we had to kind of develop and look at we do it very straightforward with a very a stark feature, a very massive feature with the concrete, as well as representational of the anniversary date itself to acknowledge it. And then just to the right as you would pass by, that's the survivor's wall. That's the location I called attention to earlier. This is the... I'll go back to it. George wanted me to point out one of the challenges that we had was not just elemental. It's not physical features. It is human nature and human psychology to get attached to things and places that are not normal. They're not people, things you don't normally have a relationship with. It's the difference between what makes a house and a home different. For this particular site, the community on the whole, many members of our design team as well as the community, have direct connections to this facility, our experiences, and it became a psychic warehouse of our memories and experiences during that time period. The removal of that can be immensely traumatizing. And that was a major obstacle and challenge that the DCD team had to overcome and kind of get agreement to by the family members. And we heard the city struggle with this. We saw how challenged this became. And we took a moment to pause to sit down and say, how do we address that? We know we need to move forward. We know we need to move past it. But how do we acknowledge this? emotional connection we have with space. And our approach was to actually salvage much of the elements as we could from the facility. So that an area of the dance floor of the original Pulse nightclub will be salvaged, and by dance floor I mean the concrete section, and will be placed and interred beneath the actual dance floor, tying that moment and place symbolically to that area so it's reused and gives life to it. Likewise, the breach wall itself has been salvaged in whole. And what we will be doing is instead of putting that on display, because it is stark, it is incredibly striking, and while evocative, it was too much we wanted to make sure that we were taking a kinder gentler approach to this trauma and reflect that and that was part of the balancing act so we'll be interning part of that the breach wall itself in a hole at the location of the obelisk we're bringing those two elements together Likewise, we're taking much of the concrete of the existing facility and we're salvaging that and we're going to be utilizing it in part, not so much in the concrete mix, I don't want any confusion that we're mixing it in with the concrete, but we'll be adding it as elements to the concrete everywhere we have concrete or aggregate and we're going to be distributing that throughout the entire site so that the building itself while removed is reinterpreted back into the living embodiment in this entire memorial and that is is something you're not going to see we know it's there and with speaking with the family members uh and and survivors uh we think this this is able to transcend that loss and allows them to kind of let go move forward knowing uh as quote direct as as uh i was told by an individual they will always have a place to stay my daughter will always have a place and she can always be here and so immensely moving it was a very difficult decision but not one you would see in renderings or boards This is the southeast corner. This is the Prism Tower Plaza area. It's kind of a very communicative element to the Orange Avenue approach. We know that this is a signal component of it. We wanted to be able to have an element, a marquee element, as well as referential the original Pulse logo as part of a glowing element. One of the important elements of the Pulse Memorial design is the fact that it's also a day and nighttime facility, so this entire column piece will be illuminated at night, as well as much of the remainder of the memorial itself. This is Northview from Caley Street looking at the visitor pavilion itself. Like what I said earlier, we wanted to have a strong day and nighttime connection to the facility. This is a 24-hour operational area. And what you're seeing in the corner there is very directly the original Pulse sign. We intend to have the sign not only showcase as a living artifact, but actually renewed. And so at night that sign will be re-illuminated. And so we're incorporating kind of the elements of zoning and planning and public face with this element of being able to see and experience the facility even after its closure. The other strong element that we kind of are interpreting is the Rainbow color panel screening and while the everybody can see the coloring the intent is that we wanted to make a space that was inclusive safe and comfortable and the Language that was being used to describe it is that people often feel they want to be held and embraced So in a very literal interpretation those screens the arms actually do wrap around and kind of embrace the entire pavilion itself to visit and that was very intentional this is more the public face facing the actual exhibit or the memorial proper itself and what we wanted to do was have a transparency between interior and exterior again so that when you visit the site after hours you're able to look into and see the vast majority of the visitor pavilion as well the curved wall itself is a a specific memorial feature it's there to actually give acknowledgement to why we're here why the memorial what was the purpose of memorial and to be a message of hope as you enter the facility itself the first major public experience zone is going to be the simple timeline and and it is it is intentionally simplistic the language is text only there's no images associated with this and it's narrative in journalistic prose so it's very factual based very subdued with very limited but pointed emotional language and so it allows the experience of to understand to walk past and through the the events of that evening and it starts it reads from right to left as you go towards the actual exhibit and it's situated in a way in which if this was too evocative for individuals they could bypass it without it interrupting the flow it's not an absolutely essential but it's presented there and and it's a it's a It serves as a narrative standing for the actual facility itself. In the distance, you get a glimpse of what you'll see. Obviously, coming from another area outside, you'd be able to see it. But you do see the major elements linearly going through the facility itself. So there's an artistic data line going through the center of the facility. This is an alcove. It's a very prominent one just behind the radial curve of the Exhibitory. This is the chance to actually give visitors an idea of what Pulse was like before the tragedy itself. historical framing. There are some general, some very light quotations. Obviously, this is the artifact collection zones between the posters, the entry doors, the grand chandelier, which we understand would have originally had been purchased from the Grand Moulin Rouge in Paris, France, and brought over specifically. So there's a lot of proscenium. That's a central major element. It is a massive chandelier, as well as other figurative elements and interpretive forms. So we have some of the textured walls that we had in the V.A. Please. And again, you did not have to actually visit Paul's nightclub to get a very good sense of what Paul's nightclub was like and how colorful and vibrant and larger than life that it was. The main visitor experience is centered upon a radius in which the oversized disco ball rotates. The intention here was to play with light, the notion of what a nightclub was, and in particular how oversized in our minds and memories this nightclub actually was for what it served in the community. It also creates an experience in which the visitor is bathed in this light and experience as it gently rotates around that room. We all have a sense of what a disco ball light is, but it's a unique way to bring the idea of solemn remembrance, but a transcendental element in space and time. Within this area on the left is essentially the global and international response to the Pulse event and how the world stepped up and showed they cared and were in solidarity. There's a single line of text that kind of describes some of that in narrative form. On the right is the Orlando response. And its centered quote is right now we're looking for Mayor Dyer's quote during that time period because it was characteristic of the Orlando experience, being Orlando strong and how we came together. And it set the tone so well for the time period that we felt it still resonated in a classic timeless manner that still rang true today. So we're utilizing that with a host of imageries associated with that that we're still going through the curative process. This is the kind of the culminating element. And this is where we host the 49 angels. This is the area in which visitors are able to come in contact very directly with the angels individually in fairly large in size and format, as well as having family members and loved ones come back and specifically remember their angel as well. It's reserved intentionally. We did not want competing images. It was a desired effect to put more emphasis on the individuals and their absence and what's not there and that stripping of life. It's, again, while it's a visitor center and somewhat of an artistic impression of these events, we wanted it to be an area for gathering rather than a holistic approach to museum events. programming and design and what we wanted to make sure that we had the images of each of them by each of the 49 family members as Heather recently said that all 49 at this point have responded in providing imagery and contacts and names and so we're seeing the progression on that as well but again this is the kind of the culminating feature of when you actually get to see the actual angels themselves Next steps coming up are kind of very historical amounts. Most of these we've already completed. The whole site has been kind of cleared. The building's been removed and cleaning. We've hit our mark for the 30, 60% design schedules, which are very accelerated. uh and then we have commencement of construction starting in september 26 another way of saying that is we're going to permit in mid-july so literally in 30 45 days we are bringing this to actual permitting process and and we'll be moving forward and we anticipate the completion date to be in the third quarter of 2027 we have every expectation we'll be able to achieve that

So as we close that out, commissioners, to note that city staff have played a significant role in the development from EDV, Richard Forbes, Doug Metzger, Tim Johnson, Marty Hudson, and Donna in our office. They were part of the initial Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee and have continued supporting the effort. throughout the time, including, I should mention, Jay Hood with Catalyst. He volunteered his services to create the conceptual design with Wayne and Baker Barrios, and he continues to be a connection point to make sure, as we have to make changes to the conceptual design, to make it actually constructible, that the intention of the committee is still throughout that design and then of course christy who's been leading as our construction project manager and our facilities team has been extraordinary throughout this process carefully removing the items making sure they're packaged well so they can be restored again and they were also very supportive throughout the site visits to make sure that the building was secure and safe for people to go through So as we close out the memorial this week, we have started the 10-year remembrance events. Yesterday, Commissioner Sheehan, or not yesterday, Saturday, Commissioner Sheehan, Commissioner Chapin, and Commissioner Ortiz, I don't know who was the fastest, but they were all at our community rainbow run. Or who actually finished? I'm curious if everybody finished. Oh, okay. But we had more than 2,000 people come out for that run on Saturday, including there was 15 sponsors who helped make this event possible, including Orlando Health, who's been the presenting sponsor, and Hard Rock. who has consistently supported this event with the love is love lounge inside of city hall we had approximately 50 families and survivors participate and more than 100 first responders the rainbow run was created at the first year mark by students at ucf as a way to honor the 49 angels and so that is one element that the city has continued on when we took over the memorial process Also this year, the prayer ribbons that have been out there every year will be in front of City Hall as well this week. And then we've added a new opportunity for reflection. The Created in Community Portraits of Pulse Art Exhibit will be installed on the first floor art gallery starting tomorrow. This exhibit features 49, they're paint by number works that were done by family members immediately after the tragedy. And so those will be redisplayed for the first time in many years in partnership with the History Center. And then our Pulse Remembrance Ceremony will be Friday at 5.30 at the First United Methodist Church. And we've expanded it this year in honor of the tenure. There will be some additional cultural performances. The Orlando Gay Choir will be there as usual. Our poet laureate, Kamara, is doing a special poem that she has written for the occasion. There will be a candle lighting ceremony as we read the 49 names and then our angels. The Angel Action Network that were there and multiple places right after will actually be part of the ceremony as well. And so with that, I guess here's the slide with all of those events. If case you're interested and with that will take any questions.

Thank you, Heather. Thank you team. Very well done. Commissioner Sheehan.

Thank you, Mayor. Well, first of all, I want to thank everyone who's been a part of this. I know this was a very sacred and important, you know, role that all of you took. And I appreciate the sensitivity and the way that you approached it and the way that you, because it's not always easy dealing with people who are dealing with grief. You know, it's a very difficult process. Everyone processes grief differently. And some people process grief with anger. And, you know, I understand that it was a difficult process to go through, but I think that the way that you took all of that and have put it together, and, you know, I have to also thank the city employees who, you know, who have been a part of this since day one, who I've been so proud of. Many left their desks to assist the families and worked at Camping World, and this has just been a city process, and actually from the beginning. So I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been, you know, a part of it. I really appreciate the fact that you dealt with the breach wall in a very sensitive way. It will still be there, but it won't be a macabre tourist attraction. That's what the concern was, that it would be a weird, people died here, how are we gonna handle that? I think you dealt with that in a very sensitive way. And I love the olive tree. Wow, that's just a really beautiful touch. I just had a question about the portraits. I just wanted to make sure, Heather, they were all finished because I was part of that process and we didn't finish them all. So are they now finished?

According to Flynn, they are not finished because they were intentionally not finished by some of the families. Oh, okay. And so they've been left in that process. condition. So some are finished and some are not.

As long as they're okay with that, because I know I did one for a family who asked me to paint it, but as long as they're okay with the process, again, I just want to make sure that if we're going to do the exhibit that we did it in a sensitive fashion. So thank you for that. Their run was lovely, and I love how it brings everyone together, and what's always touching is to see the hand-lettered signs by children along the route, and that's what happened when that happened. I mean, when those streets were closed for almost a month, and the neighbors were very much inconvenienced, they embraced this, and their children put out hand-lettered signs about love, which was really very inspirational. Again, I just want to thank everyone. And Mayor, I'm glad that we got out of it. The politicians didn't need to do this. It needed to be a community thing. And I think it really shows that this was done in a way that really honors the families and involved them. So thank you.

Sure burns right. Thank you mayor. Thank you have been into the team. I just like to say that I appreciate the the the care in the intention and the trauma trauma informed approach that you all took to designing this memorial my questions are more from a operational standpoint. And so I have 3 I just dropped so one is the operational control and oversight who will have the operational control and oversight. But also the ongoing cost of the operations have we you know looked at that and then determine where that that comes from and then the last one is just the availability of of of the of this memorial will it you know can it be rented out for birthdays and things like that it can be activated or will it just be with those activities be be a lot and then who will make those decisions of what types are events would be appropriate.

So some of the most of the operational things we're still working through at a high level. We are making sure that the decisions we make in the design are low maintenance and so that there's we're having minimal costs for ongoing operations. It's envisioned that it will be, you know, maybe part time or minimally staffed. I think when the building or when the memorial opens, it'll need additional staffing and then probably pare down over time. So some of those we're still finalizing, you know, we're kind of building the memorial as we go. So We're kind of finalizing some of those. As far as events, the idea is not to rent it out to the general public for types of events. However, that family gathering area that's on the side was created because families do have events there. So we know one family, they like to put up a Christmas tree every year for their angel. We know some like to come for birthday parties. So they'll be able to use that family gathering space for those types of activities. And then we can follow up with you as we continue working through all the operational elements. FJ is kind of leading that effort more on the operational side, but we'll keep you updated on all of those. But the idea is that this will be more passive and hopefully to keep operations minimal.

Yeah, and I think we we also have to I imagine based on these renderings that it would be a beautiful Memorial and I'm thinking 1015 20 years down the line that we wanted to be as beautiful as it is on day.

There's a lot of discussion that we have related to materials that are used types of trees so that how they you know the leaves fall off of them and the concern around some of those and so we spent a lot of time. working through some of those details. I should also say, as far as the memorial being opened, it's envisioned that the outside space will be accessible 24-7 because we know, I mean, a lot of people go there at night, given that the shooting happens late at night. The visitor pavilion will have hours, you know, more nine to five, something like that, where it will be closed in the evening, but the memorial will be open.

And as far as security, because I think that should be a big piece in ensuring that that asset is protected and individuals who attend there are protected.

Yes. And we've had OPD involved throughout looking at septet design principles and those kinds of things as well.

So thank you very much. Great job team.

Okay. Thank you very much. Great job. Now we'll move on to some really fun stuff. Commissioner Ortiz, hold on team, one sec. Heather.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you guys. I just had a quick question, it's about parking. Nobody has talked about parking. Whether we have accessibility for this.

So the parking off of Cayley, where you saw the visitor pavilion is anticipated to be the handicap accessible parking with additional spaces than required, given that we know several survivors were injured and have those types of injuries. Correct me if I'm wrong, Doug, and there's actually no planning things. And then we envision using Esther Street for parking for the as today for the remainder of that. So.

OK, thank you.

So we had scheduled this