More than six months have passed since the deadly shooting in an Orlando gay nightclub, but the city certainly hasn’t forgotten.
On Wednesday, Orlando City FC, the local MLS team, unveiled 49 rainbow-colored seats at their new stadium, to recognize the 49 people killed in the shooting at the Pulse nightclub. The seats have “#OrlandoUnited” logos on them and are located in Section 12 in reference to the date of the shooting, June 12.
Here’s what club founder Phil Rawlins had to say in a video tweeted by the Orlando City FC official account:
“These are all regular season-ticket holder seats. We put them in section 12 because obviously we felt that was pertinent. It was June 12, as you know, last year when the tragedy happened. They’re right here in Section 12, they’re right down by the benches, they’ll certainly be seen by everyone in the stadium as a very significant remind of that day.”
Here’s the unveil of the new seats:
The official unveil. #OrlandoUnited https://t.co/YDAcmx9z5N
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 4, 2017
And here are some photos:
Always a part of our new home. #OrlandoUnited pic.twitter.com/S28OQd8nmG
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 4, 2017
This is a really cool gesture from Orlando City FC and an awesome way to recognize that tragedy. You’d expect a sports team to hold a moment of silence before a game or maybe a ceremony for first responders and/or families of the victims, but dedicating part of the stadium to those who died is above and beyond.
[ESPN]
