Owner Of Pulse Nightclub Decides Not To Sell To City

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ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) — It seems the owner of the Pulse nightclub in Orlando has had a change of heart.

Last month it was announced that the City of Orlando had negotiated a deal to buy the club for more than two million dollars. The city planned to turn it into a permanent memorial to the 49 people who died in the June massacre. Gunman Omar Mateen was killed by SWAT team members.

But now the club's owner, Barbara Poma, said she has no plans to sell. In a statement, Poma said she "can't just walk away" from the club which "means so very much to my family and to our community."

Before the mass shooting, the club was a pillar in the gay community. Now it has become a place of mourning for visitors and locals alike.

Poma's statement did not detail what she had planned but did say she felt a "personal obligation to ensure that a permanent space at Pulse be created so that all generations to come will remember" those affected by the tragedy.

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