Judge orders Kennedy Center update on tarp and renovation plans

A federal judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to explain why a tarp and scaffolding still cover the front of the Washington arts complex after workers removed President Donald Trump’s name from its facade under a court order.

U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper on Wednesday directed the Kennedy Center to file a status report on its operations, programming and public access within weeks. He also required the center to “indicate the purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding,” which were placed over the front signage in the early morning hours of June 13.

The order is the latest step in a lawsuit brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, against Trump and the center’s board. Cooper previously ruled that Beatty must be allowed to participate in board meetings. The Guardian reported that, in the same litigation, Cooper last month ordered Trump’s name removed from the Washington theater complex’s signage and blocked plans to close it for two years of renovations starting around early July. The Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to put that order on hold.

Trump, who now serves as chairman of the Kennedy Center, had announced July 5 as the date the venue would close for major renovations. Cooper had earlier given administrators three days to update him on immediate plans for construction, programming and public access.

On the due date last Friday, lawyers for the Kennedy Center requested an extension. In that filing, Matt Floca, who was promoted to president and CEO in March, said current management intends to present the board with “an array of options” for trustees to vote on at their next meeting, expected on an unspecified date in mid-July.

Those options, according to Floca, include a complete closure for extensive renovations; a partial closure “enabling some continued public access and limited programming” while some renovations proceed; and “a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”

Cooper denied the request for an extension. He ordered the center to file its status report within seven days of the July board meeting or by July 31, whichever comes first.

When asked for comment Wednesday, the Kennedy Center pointed NPR to documents its legal team had submitted to the court. The White House and Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Guardian.

The tarp went up after workers removed lettering from the facade overnight, hours after the original court deadline. NPR reported that the center’s administration had slow-walked the court-mandated removal of Trump’s name from the front of the center and from digital materials, which was supposed to happen no later than June 12. Trump’s name was removed from all Kennedy Center digital content on June 4, the same day the center’s legal team issued an email order to staff, according to NPR, which said it obtained the memo that day.

As of Monday, the sign remained hidden from public view. Beatty’s lawyers told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the “semi-permanent tarp” obscuring President John F. Kennedy’s name appears to be an “effort to frustrate the restoration of the status quo as it existed prior to the renaming.” Beatty called the obstruction an “act of petty defiance,” The Guardian reported.

The dispute comes amid broader uncertainty at the Kennedy Center. NPR reported that many prominent artists canceled appearances over the past year, citing politicization of the venue, and that much of the programming staff has left through layoffs or resignations. The center’s calendar currently lists only a handful of outdoor free movie screenings and children’s workshops, while in past years it presented more than 2,000 arts and education events annually.

The center is also facing a separate lawsuit filed June 12 by the Washington National Opera, a longtime tenant and artistic partner. NPR reported that the opera company is seeking $17 million and claims the Kennedy Center withheld “years’ worth of donor gifts, bequests and endowment funds” intended specifically for the opera.