A stylish roof encircles the former Pulse nightclub property in architectural renderings of the promised memorial that’s no longer destined to rise in its inceptive location.
The design features a large stone-like entryway into the memorial. Next to it there’s a reflecting pool and tall grass bristling in the wind.
It was a picturesque idea, until it wasn’t.
When the deal for the property fell apart, it left behind unanswered questions like what will become of the interim memorial or plans for the future memorial, and what will be left behind at the nightclub property where the Pulse tragedy took place nearly seven years ago.
Despite all the unanswered questions, the series of events that led up to onePULSE Foundation’s decision to relocate is coming into focus.
A circle of finger pointing
Last week, the nonprofit announced it could not reach an agreement with the nightclub property owners to donate the land to the charity.
Barbara Poma, one of the property owners who opened the club and the previous executive director and founder of the foundation, said she intended to donate land, but a third investor, who is a close family friend, refused to donate his share.
The hiccup in negotiations caused a sudden collapse of plans to build a place of remembrance at the former Pulse nightclub and set off a circle of finger-pointing, confusing and worrying family members of victims, survivors and local community leaders.
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Scott Bowman, a spokesperson for the foundation, said the board, made up of 13 trustees, once floated the idea to buy the property from the Pomas for $2 million.
But that offer was rescinded, he explained, after executive members learned that the Pomas had received insurance money to pay off debt they owed for the shuttered nightclub.
Through a spokesperson, Poma said she and her husband, Rosario Poma, a co-owner of the property, used insurance money to cover business expenses like property taxes, payroll and alarm services.
“As entrepreneurs we carried business insurance, which we paid for throughout the time Pulse was operating,” she said in a statement. “Those monies did not cover the initial debt we incurred when we started the business or the seven years of loss of income due to the business being destroyed.”
Barbara Poma did not offer further comment.
Bowman said, in order to uphold the public’s trust and to maintain donor accountability, the foundation “found it no longer appropriate to pay the Pomas for the nightclub property.”
The Pomas and Michael Panaggio
About a year before Poma departed from the foundation, she transitioned to another title called “keeper of the story,” where she focused on national fundraising efforts.
It wasn’t until this year in January that she took a $50,000 salary reduction, which reduced her annual income to $100,000.
In April, the foundation announced she departed from the organization.
Poma had started the club in 2004 in tribute to her older brother, John, who died of AIDS in 1991. In her former role with the onePULSE Foundation, she spent years spearheading an effort to create a memorial and museum to honor the 49 lives lost in the Pulse 2016 massacre.
At the same time, as a co-owner of the former Pulse nightclub, Poma and her husband led a business that is still entangled in a lawsuit alleging it failed to protect patrons on the day of the tragedy.
Meanwhile, Rosario Poma remains an active real estate player in Central Florida.
In January, he sold a restaurant building at 7725 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy. for $4.6 million, according to property records. He also owns a Pacino’s Italian restaurant in Kissimmee.
Rosario Poma bought the Pulse nightclub property in 2005 for $925,000. The third investor, Michael Panaggio, became a part-owner several months after the massacre, records show.
The businessman from Daytona Beach said the nightclub was not making a profit so he loaned the Pomas money and collateralized his investment with the real estate. In an email to the Sentinel, he added, he never intended to donate the property and he was surprised to see his name mentioned in a news release sent last week by the foundation.
“It’s like blaming the bank for not forgiving a mortgage,” he wrote. “I’m outraged, but I’m not budging. It’s a totally unholy request.”
The onePULSE Foundation
The nonprofit organization continues to reassure the public that it is committed to completing the museum and memorial, but the foundation also admits to struggling during the pandemic to raise funds, which hindered the progress of the planned developments. The museum was slated to be a separate structure about a half-mile from the club.
In 2020, the nonprofit lost nearly $112,000 in revenue, according to tax forms that are publicly available on the foundation’s website.
The following year the nonprofit made a little more than $1 million in revenue. Last fiscal year’s tax forms are not yet available.
Panaggio said he believes the foundation pulled its offer to buy the property from the Pomas because it has not collected enough money to deliver the museum and memorial.
“They are trying to deflect the fact the foundation is in trouble,” he said. “Now they want to blame it on the Pomas. Not too cool. The Pomas are far from rich.”
In 2018, the foundation was awarded $10 million in Orange County tourism tax revenue to acquire the property for the museum, which it did in 2019 — paying $3.5 million for a 1.7-acre parcel at 438 West Kaley Street.
The acquisition also set up a deadline to build the museum within seven years of the recorded deed, meaning the foundation has until Sept. 2026 to complete the museum or the property would be turned over to the county. It’s the same year Orlando will mark 10 years since the massacre.
Despina McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Orange County, said memorials are not TDT-eligible facilities, so even if the foundation wanted to use the funds to purchase the nightclub property, it would be restricted.
A recent application to the new tourist development tax board shows the foundation is applying for another $10 million in TDT funding to “convert and create a multi-use space” on Kaley Street that will include a museum and event center. The project is estimated to cost $15 million.
The application states the nonprofit has raised about $11.4 million, to date, on the project. Bowman said there’s about $3.6 million that remains.
What to expect next?
The lease allowing for the interim Pulse memorial to stay at the nightclub property is in effect until April of next year.
From there, it’s unclear if the foundation will move the interim memorial to another location. It’s also unclear what will become of the nightclub property, which was declared a national memorial in 2021.
Mark Arnold, a managing director at KW Commercial, said it would be difficult to put a price tag on that location given its past.
“This property has suffered an extraordinary tragedy and any potential user should be mindful and show extreme sensitivity toward the victims, their families and the people impacted in the community,” he said. “I’m not sure what can be built there other than a memorial.”
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, whose district includes Pulse, said the city may be able to justify seizing the property through eminent domain, but she’s not willing support that option.
“Do we really want to throw more money at the Pomas?” she said. “The city has done so much for the people who have suffered in the aftermath of this tragedy and we will continue to do all we can, but I think the right thing to do is to leave them to deal with a problem they’ve created for themselves.”
The city has not been approached by the onePulse Foundation or the property owners to purchase the property, according to a city spokesperson.
onePULSE Foundation Chairman’s Ambassadors Council member Kari Watkins said the process of memorializing a location is far from easy.
In the past, she’s met with members of the onePULSE Foundation to offer her insight and advice as the executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum that honors the victims in the 1995 bombing.
“There’s a saying in this line of work: If you want to start a war build a memorial,” she said. “People are going to come with opinions and you need to really push listening…. It has not been perfect in Oklahoma City, but we figured out how to come together and that’s what I hope for Orlando.”
Robb Lauzon, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Central Florida who studies the impact of memorial spaces, said memorials are not just about commemorating the lives lost, they’re also about the current values of a community.
“These values are part of the process and we have to take into consideration what the community says about them,” he said. “[Memorials] need to be a place that people think is valuable for our children to learn about.”
Lauzon focused his dissertation on a controversial monument being built in Ottawa, Canada, to honor victims of communism. That project started in 2008 and has not yet been completed.
“I don’t know if there’s an average time [to complete a memorial],” he said. “But if there’s a will, there is a way.”
arabines@orlandosentinel.com
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