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Pulse Nightclub Owner in Orlando Hopes to Reopen as Memorial for Shooting Victims

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Updated: | Originally published: ;

The owner of Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were gunned down in June, hopes to reopen the site as a memorial for those killed during the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the club said Monday.

Pulse management, behind the nonprofit organization OnePulse Foundation, said in a statement that it is raising money toward that goal. Earlier in the day, the foundation erroneously said in a Facebook post that Pulse was reopening as a memorial. Sara Brady, a spokeswoman for the nightclub, told TIME that a member of Pulse’s social media team misunderstood the facts about the fund and incorrectly published the post.

“OOPS! Looks like we got the media’s pulse racing with an inadvertent Instagram posting that incorrectly stated the Pulse Nightclub was reopening as a memorial,” Brady said in a statement. Pulse remains closed for business, but its owner Barbara Poma’s “desire is that someday a memorial be created at the site,” the statement added.

 

The city of Orlando has been planning to create a memorial to honor the shooting victims, who died June 12 when a gunman opened fire inside the popular gay nightclub. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer had said in a statement that the “permanent space” would “preserve the memory of those who lost their lives, provide comfort to those who seek it and honor the spirit and love of our great city.”

Dyer said the memorial would include input from survivors of the massacre, victims’ families and the larger community and that a community-based committee would oversee its creation. The timeline of its creation is unclear.

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