The Foundation’s Director Barbara Poma says she wants people to not only remember the victims and survivors of the shooting but to understand the tragedy in its larger cultural context.
"I know we talk about safe spaces at movie theaters and at churches and schools are all places that we all feel safe. But in the LGBTQ community safe spaces were defined as something very different for them. So understanding the real history of that for this community will be the first component. And that will help you understand why this tragedy was so impactful for so many people around the world."
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Poma says she also wants visitors to the site to understand the historical context of the shooting-the rise in hate crimes-that corresponded with both the Pulse shooting and the recent shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
She says to that end the site will include a museum and memorial that will be a place for people to remember victims and learn about the events of the 2016 shooting at the gay nightclub.
And there will also be a Survivor's Walk that will commemorate the path survivors and victims took from the nightclub to the Orlando Regional Medical Center to seek treatment.
"You’ll understand why survivors are a huge part of our story. And they need a space that's designated to tell their story. So we feel like along that walk which yes that's the whole idea-that people will take that walk once they visit the memorial-they can take that walk along the survivor walkway and learn the stories of our survivors and our first responders."
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The National Pulse Museum and Memorial and Survivor’s Walk is scheduled to open in 2022. The deadline to apply for the design competition is April 30. For more information or to apply, click on the link.
Forty-nine people were killed and more than 50 injured when a gunman opened fire in the gay nightclub in 2016.
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