iStock/Thinkstock(ORLANDO, Fla.) — Orlando’s Mayor said Wednesday that he would like to see his city purchase the location of the Pulse Nightclub, where 49 people were killed in a mass shooting in June.
“At some point, I think the city needs to gain control, purchase the Pulse site, and then make some determination, with a lot of input, on what a permanent memorial might look like,” Mayor Buddy Dyer told local radio station, WMFE. “I think we need to determine some period of time that we leave it exactly as is, with some adequate fencing, because there will be people.”
The city of Orlando released a statement to ABC Orlando affiliate WFTV expressing “interest in acquiring the property,” and adding, “[I]f the city determines it is in the best interest of the community to acquire the property, we will go through that public process to do so.”
The announcement comes as organizers try to determine how donations to a charitable fund set up in the aftermath of the June attack will be distributed. The OneOrlando Fund has so far received a $1 million contribution from The Walt Disney Company, as well as $100,000 donations from The Orlando Magic and JetBlue, among others.
Town hall meetings will be held Thursday among fund administrators and the general public to help the victims’ families and survivors, according to the OneOrlando Fund website.
On June 12, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a terrorist attack inside the gay nightclub.
Pulse was released back to its owner in July after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Orlando Police Department had control of the nightclub after the shooting. While the club is no longer in FDLE and Orlando police custody, the investigation by the FBI and the FDLE is ongoing.
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