Orlando approves $12.6M Pulse memorial contract, with site work set to begin Nov. 25

Dated location file photo: The former Pulse nightclub, roadside sign and memorial tributes on South Orange Avenue in Orlando, March 19, 2017. Photo: Michael Rivera / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Resized; website wordmark added. Photo source · License

Construction on the Pulse memorial is scheduled to begin Nov. 25 at the former nightclub site on South Orange Avenue, after the Orlando City Council on Monday unanimously approved a construction agreement for the project.

Under the $12.6 million agreement, Winter Park-based Gomez Construction will turn the razed lot into a 0.9-acre memorial space, Central Florida Public Media reported. Work is set to wrap up by the end of 2027.

Selected cost-saving changes in the Pulse memorial bid package

Element	Earlier design	Final bid package
Visitors Center curved wall	Tile mosaic	Stucco
Two survivor walls	Granite	Tile
Benches outside visitors pavilion	Included	Removed
Plumbing	Copper	PVC
Plants	Earlier sizes	Reduced about 50%

Source: cfpublic.org

What happens first at the site

According to the project schedule attached to Monday's council agenda, on-site work is scheduled to start with site grading and tree removal.

The start date has slipped from earlier plans. Project planners told the council earlier this year they expected to begin work in September, but the end-of-2027 completion target has not changed.

Gomez was the council's pick after scoring highest among three firms that submitted bids.

Who is paying

The city has budgeted $7.5 million for the work. The Orange County Commission committed $5 million in June 2025, and the Florida Legislature awarded more than $394,000 in grant funding last year. Numerous charitable organizations are also helping finance the project, according to Central Florida Public Media.

Design trimmed to stay on budget

The bid package on Monday's agenda included 19 changes from earlier designs to keep the project within the $12.6 million budget, according to a Gomez Construction spokesman. Several of the changes, drawn from Oct. 5 bid notes, are summarized in the table below.

Even with those changes, the project is over budget for lighting and electrical work, the station reported.

City spokesman Douglas Richards said many of the savings came from changing suppliers. As one example, he said the paver supplier was switched from an out-of-state company to a local one, cutting shipping and delivery costs.

Gomez Operations Manager Stephen Corrow attributed the need for cuts to a volatile construction market, and city public works project manager Kristi Fries said the contractor made a 'Herculean' effort to stay within budget.

A deadline tied to leadership changes

Mayor Buddy Dyer has made the memorial a personal priority before he leaves office. 'Commissioner Sheehan and I will term out in January, and we're going to make sure that that memorial is finished before we do,' Dyer said, as reported by Central Florida Public Media.

District 4 Commissioner Patty Sheehan called it 'the last step in the healing and the continuum of this process.'

How the city came to own the site

A shooter killed 49 people at Pulse more than 10 years ago. The nonprofit OnePULSE Foundation led fundraising efforts after the shooting; after the foundation dissolved in 2023, the city bought the land itself. Residents who want to review the construction schedule can find it attached to the council's Oct. 12 meeting agenda.