The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees voted Tuesday to close the iconic performing arts venue “immediately” for a two-year renovation.
Board members claimed the memorial is on the brink of bankruptcy and needs to close for extensive renovations. They cited a partial ceiling collapse in the building’s Grand Foyer earlier this month after heavy storms as a reason for needing to shutter.
“The Board’s decision today reflects sound judgment and a clear prioritization of safety above all else. As the main building closes for urgent renovations — long overdue and desperately needed to protect the safety of patrons, artists and staff — the Center remains committed to pursuing a safe and efficient renovation through all legal means,” Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center said in a statement.
Earlier Tuesday, a federal judge in D.C. blocked the board from returning President Donald Trump ’s name to the building or grounds in any way.
“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Judge Christopher Cooper said in his ruling.
Trump said on social media the Justice Department would appeal Cooper’s ruling. He said the repairs, which Congress has allocated $257 million to cover, would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building. A federal judge has twice said that can’t happen without the approval of Congress.
Trump joined the board’s closed-door meeting virtually and spent several minutes criticizing both Cooper and Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board who filed a lawsuit over the board’s effort to put Trump’s name on the building, a source familiar with the meeting told NBC News.
The Kennedy Center could close as soon as Tuesday over concerns of the building’s safety, according to the Washington Post. News4’s Jessica Albert reports.
The board voted in August to inscribe the president’s name on the venue’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.”
If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading: “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.” The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would have also been renamed in Trump’s honor, as part of the board’s resolution.
“The Board understands that without such appropriate recognition it is unlikely that President Trump will provide the fundamental oversight of the renovation of the main building and lead the fiscal rescue of the Center,” court documents said.
Judge Cooper wrote the board’s resolution “bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”
Cooper ruled in May that only Congress can approve changes to the Kennedy Center’s name. In an emergency hearing on the matter in August, the administration argued it was no longer attempting to rename the building and that the vote was simply a recognition of Trump’s effort to secure money for much needed renovations.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose wife sits on the Kennedy Center board, compared the move to the way hospitals and colleges recognize high dollar donors.
But a lawyer for Beatty argued the changes amounted to “deja vu” and violated Cooper’s earlier ruling.
“The law is extremely clear: The John F. Kennedy Center is named for President Kennedy — and no one else,” Beatty said in a statement Tuesday. “But President Trump is holding the Kennedy Center hostage unless he can put his name on this sacred memorial. The Court just rejected this proposal for the second time. This unlawfulness is as breathtaking as it is wrong, and it needs to stop.”
“This constant effort to add Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center facade is the definition of insanity,” Beatty said 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.
Trump has threatened to demolish the building if a judge denies the administration’s request to close it.
The Kennedy Center’s Chief Financial Officer Donna Kauranen also resigned from her position Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
NBC News reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment and is working to learn more about why Kauranen resigned.
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