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Was a permanent Pulse memorial in place by June 12, 2026, the ten-year remembrance, as Orlando's mayor said he wanted?

The Roadmap Reckoner · Orlando, Florida · last checked 2026-10-20

Verdict	PENDING, OVERDUE (by four months and 8 days)
Promiser	Mayor Buddy Dyer, City of Orlando
Place	Orlando, Florida
Promised	2026-06-12 (the ten-year remembrance)
Delivered / status	Not built; the City now says construction is expected to begin "this fall" (Oct. 6, 2026) and finish by the end of 2027
Last checked	2026-10-20

Verdict: PENDING, OVERDUE, by four months and 8 days. The goal was a permanent memorial in place by the ten-year remembrance of the Pulse nightclub shooting, June 12, 2026. At the last check, on October 20, 2026, the memorial had not been built, and no City record read showed its construction had begun.

Last checked: October 20, 2026.

Corrected 20 October 2026: a line about the State grant agreement was replaced. The agreement had been saved as a scan without a text layer, and its text was read on that date. The verdict and every date in the timeline are unchanged.

Corrected 20 October 2026 (second): two lines quoted the City Council's October 12, 2026 minutes as the mayor's own words. The minutes give the construction-start line as the clerk's third-person summary of the mayor's remarks, and the entry now says so. The verdict and every date are unchanged.

Corrected 21 October 2026 (third): a sentence about whether the City's releases report a construction start covered more than had been read. It now names the two lists that were read: the City's Pulse Memorial Press Releases page and the pulseorlando.org Press Releases and Statements list. The verdict and every date are unchanged.

Re-checked October 20, 2026. The City Council's minutes of October 12, 2026 record that the Council carried the construction agreement with Gomez Construction Company, $12,624,837.00 in future construction costs, and summarize the mayor's remarks: "Construction is expected to begin this fall, with completion of the memorial coming by the end of 2027." [C30] The City's release of October 6 gave the same "this fall" for the start [C26]; its schedule of May 15 said September 2026 [C20]. News 13 reported on October 12 that the City still needs final permits and that the groundbreaking had been pushed from September to the end of the year [C29]. The City's records read do not say that final permits are needed, or that the start moved to the end of the year. The City's Memorial Process page now says the buildings on the site "were also removed" [C28], which replaces the earlier line saying no later record confirmed it. The verdict is unchanged; the delay is counted to this check.

The goal. On December 19, 2023, WKMG News 6 reported that Mayor Buddy Dyer "would like to ensure" that a permanent memorial to the Pulse nightclub shooting would be in place by the 10-year remembrance [C1]. The Orlando Sentinel reported the date as June 12, 2026 [C2].
The City's own schedule. The City's first completion date for the memorial, in its request for proposals of March 3, 2025, was "by the end of 2027" [C8].
Where it stands. On May 15, 2026, the City reported the design at 60 percent, with "construction anticipated to begin in September 2026 and completion anticipated for late 2027" [C20]. On October 6, 2026, it said: "Construction is expected to begin this fall with completion of the Pulse Memorial expected by the end of 2027." [C26]
No start on the record. The newest release on the City's Pulse Memorial page is its October 6, 2026 notice of the Council's October 12 vote on the construction contract [C26, C27]. None of the releases on the City's Pulse Memorial Press Releases page or on the pulseorlando.org Press Releases and Statements list reports that construction has started [C24, C27].

The goal

WKMG News 6 reported on December 19, 2023 [C1]:

"Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced Tuesday he "would like to ensure" that a permanent memorial to the Pulse nightclub shooting is in place by the 10-year remembrance of the tragedy."

Whose words. Only "would like to ensure" is in quotation marks as the mayor's own words; the rest of the sentence is the station's summary [C1].
The date. On December 20, 2023, the Orlando Sentinel reported that "the mayor said Tuesday he'd like to see the memorial built by June 12, 2026, which will mark a decade since the tragedy" [C2].
The mayor, quoted. The Sentinel quoted him: "I think people know that if we say we're going to do something, we keep our word and get it done." [C2]
Before the goal. On October 23, 2023, the City Council had approved buying the Pulse nightclub site, "with plans to develop a permanent memorial at the location" [C3].

Timeline

October 23, 2023. The Council approved buying the Pulse nightclub site for a permanent memorial [C3].
December 19, 2023. The mayor's goal: a permanent memorial in place by the ten-year remembrance [C1].
April 9, 2024. A City release described a process "moving towards the selection of a conceptual design by the end of the year" [C5]. It gave no date for the memorial itself [C5].
July 10, 2024. The City announced a Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee, "with the goal of recommending a conceptual design for the memorial by the end of this year to honor the 49 lives taken" [C6].
February 5, 2025. The City reported: "After a seven-month process that included design-brainstorm sessions and community feedback, the Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee has finalized a conceptual design for the future Pulse Memorial." [C7]
March 3, 2025. The City asked for proposals from firms to design and build the memorial, "which is slated for completion by the end of 2027" [C8].
July 14, 2025. The Council approved the ranking of Gomez Construction Company as the top design-build firm and the purchase of the property next to the Pulse site, both unanimously [C9, C13]. The minutes record the mayor saying the memorial "we anticipate will be complete by the end of 2027" [C13].
September 8, 2025. The Council approved Orange County's funding agreement and the Gomez design and construction contracts, both unanimously [C11, C12, C13b]. The minutes summarize the mayor's remarks: "Construction is expected to start next summer and then conclude the following year." [C12]
November 10, 2025. The Council approved a grant agreement with the Florida Department of State, unanimously [C14].
January 12, 2026. The Council approved a restrictive covenant tied to that grant, which "encumbers the Property for a period of five (5) years" [C15].
February 18, 2026. The City reported that a construction fence had been installed and that, with it in place, the temporary memorial would no longer be accessible. It said: "The Pulse building will be removed beginning March 18, 2026." [C17]
March 6, 2026. The City's release on reaching 30 percent design said: "The 60% design milestone update is anticipated in May 2026, with construction beginning September 2027." [C19]
March 18, 2026. The City said the clearing of the site would continue that day, and that the 60 percent design update was expected in May, "with construction beginning in September" [C18].
May 15, 2026. The City reported 60 percent design, with construction to begin in September 2026 and completion "late 2027" [C20].
June 12, 2026. The ten-year remembrance. The City invited the community to a remembrance ceremony [C21, C24]. The memorial had not been built [C20, C24].
August 13, 2026. The City's Development Review Committee acted on the Pulse Memorial master plan, MPL2026-10039 [C22].
September 14, 2026. The Council accepted that action, unanimously [C22].
October 6, 2026. The City announced that the Council would vote on October 12 on the construction contract with Gomez Construction Company, with a Guaranteed Maximum Price of $12,624,837, and $1.75 million in support from community partners [C26].
October 12, 2026. The Council carried the construction agreement with Gomez on its consent agenda, and the minutes summarize the mayor's remarks as saying construction is expected to begin "this fall" [C30]. News 13 reported that the Council approved an amended contract, that final permits are still needed, and that the groundbreaking was pushed to the end of the year [C29].

What changed, and why, in the record's own words

The records read do not say that the ten-year goal was dropped, or why the schedule passed it. They record this:

The City's releases never set the ten-year date. In all 26 releases on the City's Pulse Memorial page, June 12, 2026 appears only as the date of the remembrance ceremony [C23].
A design process came first. In 2024 the City's stated goal was a conceptual design by the end of the year, to be recommended by an advisory committee [C5, C6]. In the City's words, the committee's design took "a seven-month process that included design-brainstorm sessions and community feedback" [C7].
Then a firm to design and build it. The City's request for proposals set completion "by the end of 2027" [C8]. The design contract's own estimate for the design phase alone was "approximately 52 weeks from Notice to Proceed (NTP)" [C11].
The start date moved later. In September 2025 the mayor expected construction "next summer" [C12]. One City release in March 2026 gave "construction beginning September 2027" [C19]. The City's releases after it gave September [C18], then September 2026 [C20]. On October 6, 2026, the City's release said "this fall" [C26], and its process page says "In fall 2026" [C28].
Each Council action on the memorial in the records read carried unanimously [C13, C13b, C14, C15, C22].

What it costs

The 2023 goal named no cost [C1, C2].

Estimate: $12 million to design and build the memorial, the figure in the City's memo on Orange County's funding agreement [C10].
Contracts: $1,736,632.07 for design and $10,263,367.93 for construction, "in the total estimated amount of $12,000,000.00" [C11].
October 2026: the City's release gives a Guaranteed Maximum Price of $12,624,837 for the construction contract and announces $1.75 million from community partners [C26]. The Council's minutes of October 12 carry the same $12,624,837.00 agreement [C30].
Possible additions: the Council also authorized change orders "up to an additional $2,000,000.00 should additional funding be committed from philanthropic or government organizations" [C11].
Who pays: Orange County $5,000,000, in "three annual installments of $1,666,666.67 on November 1 of 2025, 2026, and 2027" [C10]; a Florida Department of State grant of $394,321 [C15, C16]; and the City $6,605,679 [C16].
Land: the City bought the property next to the site for $1,000,000; "The appraised value of the property is $1,235,000." [C9]

What to watch

The start of construction. The City's latest word is "this fall" [C26, C30]. News 13 reports that final permits are still needed [C29]. No City release reports a start yet [C24, C27].
Completion. The City's latest date is "late 2027" [C20].
The County's payments. The last two installments are due on November 1 of 2026 and 2027 [C10].

What this entry did not check

The City's own record of the goal. The City's December 2023 release on the memorial no longer answers at its web address, and no archived copy was found. The goal is quoted here from WKMG and the Orlando Sentinel.
Permits and timing. The need for final permits and the move of the groundbreaking to the end of the year are News 13's report [C29]; no City record read says either.
Construction on the ground. Building permits and the City's permit portal were not searched. A news-search summary gave a September 26, 2026 start, but no primary record was found, so this entry does not claim it.
Whether the building came down. The City's releases scheduled its removal for March 18, 2026 [C17, C18]. The City's Memorial Process page, read on October 20, 2026, says: "The Pulse building and adjacent building on the site were also removed." [C28] No building-permit or demolition record was read.
Orange County's side. The County Commission's own vote on the funding agreement was not read, and the County agreement document could not be downloaded.
The State grant's terms. The grant agreement was saved as a scan with no text layer, so its text was not read when this entry was written. Read on 20 October 2026, it says: "This Agreement is effective as of July 1, 2025", and "The grant completion deadline is June 1, 2027." [C25]
Eight Council item documents that could not be downloaded; none is relied on here.
The earlier promises. Before the City bought the site, the onePULSE Foundation had its own plans for a memorial. They are not traced here.

Sources

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