BACKING OUT

Pulse Nightclub Owner Won’t Sell to City of Orlando

Will create own “sanctuary” instead of city’s memorial plans.

Barbara Poma, owner of the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, has decided not to sell the property to the city for a memorial, but rather to create a "sanctuary of hope" independently, she announed Monday. The city of Orlando had planned to pay $2.25 million to purchase Pulse—the nightlcub site of a June mass shooting that left 49 people dead—and convert it into a memorial, but Poma expressed Monday that she is no longer interested in selling. Orlando spokeswoman Cassandra Lafser released a statement that city officials respect the decision "and are hopeful the Pulse site continues to be a place of hope and healing that honors the victims."