The OnePulse Foundation has terminated its lease for the nightclub’s interim memorial site, and will be handing it over to the property’s owners.
The nonprofit foundation, established in the aftermath of the 2016 Pulse tragedy to honor victims and those affected, announced Thursday it can no longer legally operate the memorial because its temporary use permit for the site expired last year.
In a letter to the site’s owners, OnePulse’s legal counsel says that operations of the site are to be handed off to the owners, Barbara and Rosario Poma and Mike Panaggio. The changes are to go into effect immediately, WESH 2 News reports.
In a statement, OnePulse Foundation said it “has no legal authority to manage the site, nor handle its day-to-day care and security.”
This is not the first time negotiations between OnePulse Foundation and the site’s owners have broken down. In May, the foundation announced it was no longer planning to host a permanent memorial site at the location, met by no shortage of protest by community members and city politicians.
In its statement released in May, OnePulse said:
The onePULSE Foundation is disappointed to report that after months of negotiation an agreement could not be reached with Barbara Poma (the Founder of onePULSE Foundation), her husband, Rosario Poma, and their business partner, Michael Panaggio, for the full donation of the Pulse nightclub property. The Foundation had previously planned to build a permanent national memorial at the site to commemorate the 49 lives taken, survivors, first responders, and all those impacted by the June 12, 2016, tragedy.
Poma left the foundation in April, which has been planning and fundraising for years with the intent of building a memorial museum to the 49 lives lost at the LGBTQ+ nightclub.
According to reporting from WESH, Poma had floated an asking price of $2.25 million for the property to the Foundation. The Foundation, on the other hand, pushed for a donation of the property.
The OnePulse Foundation said in its statement it will continue to pay monthly operating expenses for the site through the end of August, to ensure a smooth transition in management.
For now, the future of the interim memorial — and its 150-yard photo wall, Pulse victim vigils and LGBTQ+ artwork — remains uncertain.
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