The Kennedy Center could close as early as Tuesday over concerns of bankruptcy and the building’s safety, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.
According to a draft resolution, the Kennedy Center’s board — comprised largely of members whom Trump appointed last year —could vote to close the building Tuesday during a special meeting.
The Kennedy Center’s main hall ceiling partially collapsed earlier this month after heavy storms swept through the D.C. area.
“Another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed. Fortunately, no one was injured when the main hall’s ceiling collapsed,” Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations at the Kennedy Center, said in part in a statement.
News4 spoke with one of the founders of Hands Off the Arts, an organization that holds regular protests outside of the Kennedy Center.
“I think it’s very clear that the president only cares about one thing, and that’s getting his name on the building,” founder Chris Raleigh said. “Doesn’t care about JFK’s legacy. He doesn’t care about the arts that go on in this building.”
Hands Off the Arts plans to hold a protest on Friday. Raleigh said they plan to do a human chair around the building.
“We want the president and the world to know that if you want to go through the Kennedy Center, you want to try to turn it into a crater like the East Wing, you’re gonna have to go through us, and we’re going to stand in solidarity with this memorial, with the people who work inside of it,” Raleigh said.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center, released a statement through her lawyers about the special meeting.
“This constant effort to add Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center facade is the definition of insanity,” the statement read in part. “This is now the third attempt to deface this sacred memorial and turn it into a vanity project for one man’s ego.”
The Trump administration had previously announced the Kennedy Center would be closing for two years for renovations. A federal judge is deciding whether to allow the board to proceed with the closure.
President Trump has threatened to demolish the building if a judge denies the administration’s request to close it.
It is not yet clear if the meeting will address the ongoing battle to add Trump’s name onto the building. Center officials say that publicly recognizing the president’s name on the building could help secure funding to keep the institution afloat, according to the Washington Post.
The Kennedy Center declined to comment on what will be on the agenda for Tuesday’s special meeting.
