Florida Construction News staff writer
The City of Orlando is preparing to move the Pulse Memorial project into construction, with City Council scheduled to vote Oct. 12 on a construction contract with The contract includes a guaranteed maximum price of $12.62 million, according to the city. Construction is expected to begin this fall, with completion targeted for the end of 2027.
The memorial will be built at the site of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting and will commemorate the 49 people who were killed, while recognizing survivors, families and others affected by the tragedy.
The current permanent Pulse Memorial is being designed by Borrelli + Partners, working as part of a design-build team led by Gomez Construction Company. Borrelli + Partners is responsible for architecture and landscape architecture.
The project design is based on a concept developed by the Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee, an 18-member group made up of Pulse families and survivors, members of Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community and other community stakeholders. The committee worked for seven months in late 2024 and early 2025 to develop the conceptual framework for the memorial.
The city also announced $1.75 million in contributions from six community organizations to support the project. Contributors are the DeVos Family Foundation, Dr. Phillips Charities, Orlando Health, Universal Destinations & Experiences, Wilf Family Foundations and Walt Disney World Resort.
The private contributions supplement funding previously provided by Orange County and the State of Florida.
A feature of the memorial will be a Survivor Wall incorporating a passage from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Sonnet to Orlando,” which he performed at the 2016 Tony Awards following the Pulse shooting.
The memorial will include spaces intended for remembrance and reflection, including a Survivor Common Area. The project is designed to preserve the site as a place to remember the 49 people who died and recognize the experiences of survivors and families.
With City Council approval of the Gomez Construction contract, the project will move from design into construction.
Construction is expected to begin this fall, with the completed Pulse Memorial scheduled to open by the end of 2027.
