Key takeaways:
- Justice Department lawyers said the Kennedy Center could become an “unsafe, decrepit structure” that would need to be taken down if renovation plans do not proceed.
- The Trump-appointed board voted to add the phrase “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” to the building after a judge rejected an earlier renaming effort.
- Rep. Joyce Beatty is challenging the closure and name change, arguing the decision was rushed and board members lacked enough information before voting.
The Trump administration is warning for the first time that the Kennedy Center could be demolished if officials are not allowed to move ahead with renovation plans that include adding President Donald Trump’s name to the building’s facade.
Justice Department lawyers made the argument in a federal court filing Monday as they opposed an effort by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, to block the administration from fully closing the performing arts venue and adding new language crediting Trump for its restoration.
“Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years,” Justice Department attorney Brantley T. Mayers wrote.
The filing said such an amphitheater would “fail to adequately honor” President John F. Kennedy, the venue’s namesake, but would be “simpler and more economical to build, operate, and maintain.” The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 as a living memorial to Kennedy.
DOJ attorneys described the center as “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital,” and said it “cannot survive, either structurally or financially” without help from Trump and his administration. They argued that the board, selected by Trump after he took control of the institution, “recognizes that President Trump’s efforts and prestige provide the sole hope for the Center’s financial survival, and structural renewal.”
“The Board also underscores, and the undisputed evidence demonstrates, that without the prominent recognition of The Trump Administration, and President Trump’s efforts, the donors will not contribute, and the Center will continue to be in a financial and structural death spiral,” the filing said. “The Trump Administration, and President Donald J. Trump, should, therefore, be given the respect and dignity of acknowledgement.”
The filing said Trump “obtained $258 million in funding from Congress for capital restoration, and has marshalled a new donor base to finance an endowment for the Center,” but NBC News reported that it did not say what had happened to that money.
The demolition warning marks a sharp escalation in a months-long dispute over the future of the arts institution. Earlier this year, Kennedy Center Executive Director Matt Floca described planned work that included a “total replacement of stage lifts and rigging systems,” broad electrical work and leak prevention. He said in a court filing that the “exterior of the Center’s main building will not be materially affected” and that the work would not “tear down the Center to its structural steel.” NBC News reported that a center official previously told reporters the facility would not be gutted.
Beatty, who sits on the Kennedy Center board through her congressional leadership position, sued after Trump-appointed board members voted 20-3 to add the phrase “restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump” beneath existing signage, Al Jazeera reported. The board had previously renamed the venue “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” but a judge found that move unlawful and ordered Trump’s name removed. Trump is appealing.
The board has since voted to add a different phrase: “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” A hearing on the planned name change and closure is scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Washington. The judge previously said only Congress has the power to rename the site.
Beatty has argued that the closure decision was rushed and that board members did not receive enough information before voting. Norm Eisen, one of her attorneys, criticized the administration Tuesday on X, writing, “The administration is now threatening in federal court to LEVEL the Kennedy Center if Trump does not get his way.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. Beatty did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on the filing.
Be First to Comment