The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday, June 26 to designate the site of the Pulse Nightclub shooting as a national memorial site.

The bill, H.R. 3094, was introduced by House Representatives Daren Soto, Val Demings, and Stephanie Murphy and was meant to allow for the site, located at 1912 S. Orange Avenue [GMap], to designate it as the “National Pulse Memorial” but still controlled by the OnePulse Foundation – which operated by Barbara Poma, who serves as CEO and who co-owned Pulse Nightclub at the time of the shooting. But with this bill, the memorial would not be designated as part of the National Park System but will now be eligible for federal grants.

The bill would still need to be passed by the Senate and signed by the President.

The foundation is looking to raise $50 million for the design and construction of the recently unveiled memorial and museum design, now known officially as the “National Pulse Memorial and Museum.” Poma succeeded in gleening $10 million from the Tourist Development Tax coffers in 2018 when her team proved that the temporary museum was already attracting tourism to the area.

Despite the national designation, a group of family members of the victims from the 2016 shootings called Community Coalition Against A Pulse Museum has recently launched an initiative they’re calling “49 Questions” where they are sharing one video a day featuring a different member asking questions about the shooting, the museum, and the foundation.

Editor in Chief of Bungalower.com

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