ORLANDO, Fla. _ The 49 white crosses that have stood outside Orlando Regional Medical Center to mark the massacre at Pulse nightclub exactly a month ago have moved.
The crosses got a police escort to their new resting place at the Orange County Regional History Center, which has vowed to preserve many of the memorials that popped up across the city after the June 12 shooting.
At a ceremony Tuesday morning, Orlando Health President David Strong announced a permanent brick paver memorial planned for the hospital's campus. Each of the victim's names will be on a brick, along with information about the incident.
Strong started the ceremony with a moment of silence for the 49 people killed and a message of hope for the more than 50 injured.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer also spoke and helped reveal drawings of the memorial planned for around Lake Beauty, directly across from the hospital's emergency department. He then thanked the first responders, doctors, hospital staff and community.
"I am proud to say our city remains strong and we did not let this event define us," he said.
Dyer and other local officials, including City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, spoke at the ceremony before officials placed the crosses in an unmarked white panel truck, owned by Orlando Health, and in a small motorcade, drove them to the Orange County Regional History Center downtown.
Mayra Alvear, the mother of one of the victims, Amanda Alvear, helped load her daughter's cross onto the truck. She also carried the cross of her daughter's best friend, Mercedez Flores. Both women were killed on the dance floor.
"I just want to say thank you for everybody for all the love and support that you have brought over to the crosses over here," she said. " ... Everything was done with respect and honor. Love wins. Love, no hate."
Alvear's mom also hugged a tearful Sheehan during the ceremony and thanked her for her support.
The truck arrived about 9:15 a.m. local time at the history center, and volunteers carried the crosses one by one to the plaza out front, where they lined them up side by side.
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs carried the last one from the truck, a cross honoring Cory James Connell, 21, an Edgewater High School graduate who wanted to be a firefighter.
"We're deeply honored to accept these four crosses into the permanent collection of the Orange County History Center," she said.
They are, she said, "a powerful reminder that love wins."
She then called for the small crowd of people to observe 49 seconds of silence.
Greg Zanis, 65, made each of the wooden crosses within a few days after the June 12 shooting and drove them 1,200 miles from his home near Chicago to the hospital, where many of the more than 50 injured were being treated.
Each cross has a victim's name, a red heart and a laminated photo attached to it. Friends, family members and strangers wanting to pay respects have added flowers, flags and balloons to some. All of the crosses also are scrawled with handwritten notes of love and hope.
History Center Manager Michael Perkins said there are currently no plans to exhibit the crosses. For now, they will be stored at an off-site warehouse, he said.
The crosses have been just one of several memorial sites that sprung up after the shooting.
The History Center started collecting memorial items from the outside the hospital and the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts.
Officials have talked of a permanent memorial and exhibit at the History Center. Details of any possible plans at that site haven't been released.
