Ten years ago, on June 12, 300 people celebrated Latin Night at the LGBTQ+ Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Their communal night of joy and connection was brutally cut short. The mass shooting that claimed 49 lives and injured dozens of others—the deadliest hate crime targeting LGBTQ+ people in American history—still leaves a grievous mark, most especially in a city, state and nation besieged with new attacks on the gay community.

Still, the community persists, affirming their singular existence during Gay Pride Month, much like the hundreds who gathered at Pulse ten years ago—those who just wanted to dance.

The Pulse Memorial Will Open In Late 2027

The collective grief that spread worldwide following that dark event has found a home on the Pulse nightclub site: the Pulse memorial, designed as an inclusive, life-affirming space that honors and remembers those lost and affected by the tragedy.

Following the 2023 dissolution of the onePulse Foundation’s efforts, the City of Orlando purchased the nightclub building and lot to lead the memorial creation process. After considerable debate, the city demolished the building in March 2026. Now, the design process, which includes survivors and victims’ families, is expected to be finalized by August, with construction beginning in September. The memorial is expected to open in late 2027.

“I want visitors to feel like we have truly honored the 49 people that passed away,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer in an interview. “I hope the memorial reflects our community response of love, compassion and unity.”

A Personal Connection: ‘For All Those Who Just Wanted To Dance’

That spirit of unity hit home for me in early June, when the mayor’s office reached out to me to share the design, which includes words I wrote the day after the shooting, to be placed on a memorial water wall that honors the 49 lost.

I was deeply touched.

The words I wrote, “For all those who just wanted to dance,” were paired with a Robert Mapplethorpe photograph, “Two Men Dancing,” in a meme I posted on June 12, 2016. The meme was shared globally, becoming a touchstone of shared grief.

Pulse Building Remnants Will Be Embedded In The Memorial

Now, that sorrow will find a fitting container in the Pulse memorial, an ethereal space infused with light and color as well as sanctuary spaces for reflection. Although the Pulse nightclub was torn down, remnants from the building will be incorporated throughout the site helping to root memories in place.

“The tragedy took more than 49 lives—it took music, dance and a celebration of life from the community,” said Dan-Michael Trbovich, senior associate and senior project manager of Orlando-based Borrelli + Partners, which is designing the memorial. Florida-based Gomez Construction will build the site.

“Memorial designs can often be stark and dark, and that was not the tone that the city was wanting, nor the family members—they wanted it to be a celebration of life,” Trbovich said in an interview.

The word “pulse” drives the design concept—a resonant, life-giving force radiating outward, one experienced by those who enjoyed Pulse during its dozen years of operation. Borrelli + Partners also uses the word “ripple” to describe design elements, which include water and curved walls.

Overall, the leafy memorial’s open-space concept uplifts and seems to point skyward toward the ineffable. Open to foot traffic on Orange Avenue and Esther Street, most elements, many illuminated, can be visited 24 hours a day. That’s fitting, given many have visited the Pulse site at night during the past decade.

A 49-foot illuminated tower will be a beacon for visitors, placed at the corner of Orange Avenue and Esther Street. A glass representation of the Pulse nightclub sign will top the column.

The Powerful Heart Center Of The Pulse Memorial

The memorial’s heart center, the Memorial Plaza, occupies the footprint of the Pulse building. There, a reflecting pool mirrors the exact dimensions of the original dance floor, beneath which a portion of that floor will be preserved.

A granite water wall, etched with the names of those who perished, borders the reflecting pool. Above the names, a central rainbow heart with a pulse line is pin-mounted. Flanking that logo—one side written in Spanish and the other, English—are the words, “For all those who just wanted to dance.”

“That quote set the tone for the entire memorial,” Trbovich said. “The words strike an incredibly decent tone, and so they became the overarching narrative for the entire design process.”

Borrelli + Partners president Jorge A. Borrelli added in an interview: “The phrase was embraced by families of those who were lost, the survivors, and the city. It’s a cry for those who came to dance and enjoy their lives with one another.”

Furthering the ripple concept, a curved, open-air, canopied walkway termed the Angel Ellipse partly encircles the Memorial Plaza. Each of those who were taken on June 12 is memorialized in name on the walkway’s columns, paired with country of origin flags.

The Angel Ellipse is rich in light and color, given the structure’s perforated metal that’s backed with tinted panels.

“You’ll see this subtle gradation of the entire rainbow from one end to the other,” Trbovich said. The rectangular columns are “photo-embossed with an image of water ripples, punched through the metal,” he added. Seating areas between the columns allow for reflection.

Joined by existing laurel oaks, Tabebuia and other blossoming trees placed throughout the site will add additional color.

A Private Reflective Space That Opens To The Sky And Stars

A square obelisk inscribed with 06.12.16 sits at one end of the Memorial Plaza. The monument’s precast form will include crushed concrete from the Pulse building; the material will be incorporated throughout the site. The section of the wall that police broke through to rescue those trapped inside Pulse—the breach wall—will be embedded beneath the obelisk.

The obelisk’s large circular opening frames a direct view toward an adjacent private gathering space–a sanctuary that focuses on lost loved ones’ families, survivors, and first responders.

The structure’s large oculus opens to the sky and stars. Colored glazing covers the structure’s window walls that line seating to either side. Here, within the bench seating, families will place personal effects of those they lost; it’s a place of deep reflection and communion.

Next to that space, a triangular lawn—the Survivors’ Commons—will be anchored with a 70-to-100-year-old olive tree and a survivor’s tribute wall. Family members often gather at the Pulse site during their loved ones’ birthdays, on Christmas, and on other days. Similarly, the “green space is where people can gather and contemplate,” Borrelli said. “The symbol of the very old tree has been immensely well-received.”

The Visitor Pavilion Tells The Pulse Nightclub Story

The Visitor Pavilion, off Kaley Street—the site’s only enclosed structure—is banded on its upper portion with a rainbow-hued exoskeleton of perforated metal. The panels are meant to symbolize “overlapping arms that hold one in an embrace,” Trbovich said.

The vibrancy of the Pulse nightclub will be on display: monitors will show club scenes, and photos of club nights will line the walls. The space will also harbor preserved artifacts: the club’s chandelier, the entry door, the starburst wood paneling and other items.

The area will be located behind a curved wall, screened from the main section.

“Some might be triggered by scenes of the club, by its past—so we want people to have a choice in terms of viewing it,” Trbovich said. Overall, the Visitor Pavilion bears witness to what happened on June 12, and to how the city and the world responded.

Photos of the 49 lives lost will line the walls in the main exhibit area, a space that will dance with light from an oversized mirrored ball suspended from the ceiling—appropriate given that Pulse was a dance club.

The reconstituted original Pulse sign will be displayed in a front window, illuminated at night and visible from Kaley Street.