Stakeholder and community engagement
In April 2024, the city engaged Dr. Larry Schooler to implement a thoughtful, inclusive and efficient process for engaging and communicating with the victims’ families, the survivors and the community in the creation of a permanent Pulse memorial.
Dr. Schooler brings conflict resolution expertise and has served as the lead facilitator on projects similar in nature to the Pulse memorial effort, including the Virginia Beach 5-31 Memorial Committee and the San Leandro Steven Taylor Sanctity of Life Pavilion project.
To ensure the process is thoughtful, inclusive, and serves the needs of stakeholders and the community, Dr. Schooler has provided a team with a mix of backgrounds and perspectives to support this work, including fluent Spanish speakers. The team also provides liaison services between survivors and victims’ families to further ensure transparency, the building and maintenance of trust and that the process incorporates their wishes to honor loved ones and memorialize the tragedy’s impact.
Related Information
Budget
$7.5 million will be allocated from city general revenue funds for the design and construction of the permanent Pulse memorial. The goal would be for those costs to be offset with philanthropic dollars if in the event there are not enough dollars raised. This is an amount the city can allocate from the general revenue fund to ensure the completion of a meaningful memorial in a timely manner.
Additional parcel of land
As the committee works through the design process, they will consider the addition of the parcel of land that is adjacent to Pulse. The property was purchased by an individual with the intention of it being part of the permanent memorial.