In times of tragedy, it’s become a custom to see a showing of solidarity at Coronado Beach.
Earlier this year, the Sandcastle Man, Bill Pavlacka, honored the victims who died in the Paris and Brussels attacks. He also was out sculpting a memorial for Charles Keating, the Navy SEAL who died last month in Iraq.
So it was beautifully expected that on Sunday, when the world heard of the killings of 50 people at an Orlando gay nightclub, a sandcastle memorializing the victims was at the beach.
“Orlando, we love you! America & the world must stand strong against terrorism,” the message on the sandcastle read.
Glenn Morgan spotted the sandcastle on Sunday morning and tweeted out the above photo.
Pavlacka told NBC 7 on Monday that after hearing the news on Sunday morning when he woke up, he immediately went out to create the makeshift memorial. It was completed by 10 a.m.
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He and his wife decided on the message. He hopes it encourages others “that we can’t let the terrorists scare us. We have to live our lives. We just have to continue to fight at every front,” he said.
Pavlacka said he hopes to keep up the sandcastle until at least Thursday, but hopes it will stand for much longer.
"I'll keep it up as long as possible," he said.
