Orlando, Fl -- Pulse nightclub is expected to become a permanent memorial, according to documents filed with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations.
People from all over the nation continue to show up to pay their respects to those who died in the Pulse nightclub shooting. Rainbow-colored items, flowers, and candles still line the gate out front.
"This is where it happened, so I would absolutely think this is where you'd want to pay respects and have a memorial to what happened," Cathy Kroll, who drove in from Georgia, said.
"I think this is definitely more personal," a passerby said. "(It) helps people to grieve and to mourn."
Pulse recently created a nonprofit charity, One Pulse Foundation, to fund and aid in the construction of a permanent memorial. The goal is for it to be on the Pulse site, but Mayor Buddy Dyer said that's still in the works.
"Think about how long it took them in New York City and Oklahoma City," Dyer said. "What you want to do is do an appropriate permanent memorial, and I want to make sure we get a lot of input from the effected communities and the city."
The site that is now filled with hundreds of tributes to the victims is slowly being preserved by the History Center, so every piece is kept and remembered. Some are hoping to one day come back to the site and see something more than just the front of the building.
"This is nice as far as what's up against the gate, but just imagine being able to go inside in dim light and just get to wall-by-wall read and pay your respects to each individual person," Anthony Sellers, who drove in from Philadelphia, said.
“We owe so much respect to those families, and to everyone who was in that building, and to our country, and to the community, to give them the space to grieve and to pay homage,” Pulse owner Barbara Poma said.
To help pay for a permanent memorial, OnePulse Foundation is planning a benefit concert in California on Aug. 19. Details about the event are still being worked out, but News 6 has been told it will honor as well as raise money for the victims.
by Reporter Jennifer Ortega
