ORLANDO, Fla. – For the first time in nine years, family members of victims and survivors of the Pulse nightclub massacre began walking through the site where 49 people were killed.

Private tours inside the nightclub began Wednesday, with more planned through Saturday. The City of Orlando arranged the visits ahead of the building’s planned demolition to make way for a permanent memorial, which is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027.

Among those who walked through the building Wednesday was Christine Leinonen, the mother of Christopher Drew Leinonen, who was killed in the 2016 attack. Just moments after her tour, she spoke outside the nightclub.

“Over 20 people died on that dance floor,” she said. “The dance floor that I just walked around and it’s heartbreaking as a mother.”

Leinonen said she tried to imagine her son’s final moments as she stood inside the club.

“I was trying to picture, where was Christopher? Why did Christopher end up dying right there on the dance floor and couldn’t make it out?” she said. “Where was he? What was he seeing? And why was he not able to see an exit door?”

According to the City of Orlando, 34 people, including survivors and loved ones of victims, toured the club on Wednesday. Buses departed from a downtown Orlando hotel to the site throughout the day. So far, 25 of the 49 victims’ families have requested walk-throughs before the building is demolished.

“I needed to see the space. I needed to see how big it was,” Leinonen said. “It’s not closure. It’s realistic.”

She acknowledged that the experience was emotionally difficult but necessary.

“They are planning on demolishing it. I’m never going to be given the opportunity again,” she said. “I would have regretted it if I hadn’t gone through it. I needed to see where my son took his last breath.”

Despite the pain, Leinonen said nothing she experienced during the tour could compare to what her son endured that night.

“As painful as it is, it’s nowhere near as painful as what my son experienced that night,” she said. “How could walking through even compare to what he went through?”

Additional walk-throughs for families and survivors are scheduled through Saturday.