Kennedy Center board votes to close facility for two years
The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted Tuesday to close the facility for two years. The vote came hours after a federal judge blocked an attempt to add President Donald Trump’s name to the grounds.
U.S. District Judge [NAME] ruled that the board cannot install memorials for Trump or anyone else at the Kennedy Center without congressional approval. The decision follows a court order in June that required the removal of Trump’s name from the building.
U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and her attorney, Norm Eisen, filed a lawsuit to keep the cultural arts center’s original name intact. Outside the courthouse following the ruling, Eisen said: “It’s already been determined that it’s illegal to rename the Kennedy Center.”
Beatty criticized the board’s action to close the facility. “It is being held hostage,” Beatty said.
In court filings, the Trump-appointed board asserted that without a tribute to Trump, fundraising efforts necessary to repair the deteriorating building could not succeed. Trump cited a video shared by his commerce secretary that he said depicted a ceiling collapsing inside the facility. Trump posted on social media that the center’s renovation will not take place unless the Supreme Court overturns the judge’s decision.
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, voiced opposition to closing the center. “It’s a manufactured crisis but it’s a real crisis,” Weissman said. Weissman said the facility could maintain financial stability by resuming regular operations. “If, they stop messing around and let the Kennedy Center go back to the business of hosting events, then it would have revenue and it would be fine,” Weissman said.
Greg Werkheiser, of the law firm Cultural Heritage Partners, which is among the groups suing over Trump’s push to have his name on the building, said in a statement:
“When it comes [to] the decision to close for two years, that’s a tougher call for the Court. Because the prior decision to close was so without evidence of the Board having given it thoughtful evaluation, the Court told the Board to go back and think harder. Now they have thought harder, and even they are just pretending to think harder and the reasons for closure are a pretense, courts are hesitant to substitute their judgement for that of a governing board.”
Draping continues to cover the front of the Kennedy Center. The covering has remained in place since Trump’s name was removed from the structure in June following a court order.
