ORLANDO, Fla. — More than seven years have passed since 49 people were killed inside the Pulse nightclub. But the community is still waiting for a permanent memorial and museum to honor the lives lost.
The onePULSE Foundation has collected $6.6 million in tourism tax dollars for the permanent museum. The foundation is also waiting to collect another $3.4 million.
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But last week, the foundation’s temporary use permit expired for the Pulse nightclub site.
Even though the foundation’s ability to operate this site has been cut off, officials said they’re still moving forward with plans for a permanent site somewhere else, and Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond said that based on their agreement with the county they’ve got until 2025 to make museum plans a reality.
Read: Future of Pulse interim memorial site unclear after onePULSE Foundation’s lease ends
Earlier this year, onePULSE announced it couldn’t reach a deal with the property owners for a permanent memorial at the Pulse site, but Diamond said so far the foundation has satisfied its end of the bargain in using funds for what this agreement lays out.
According to Diamond, if for some reason the onePULSE foundation can’t get the museum up and running by 2025, the county could pursue taking back the land they purchased with county funds.
onePULSE officials said at this point, they are in the early design stages.
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