WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Kennedy Center’s board is expected to meet Thursday to consider plans for the performing arts venue’s future after a federal judge blocked an earlier move for a two-year closure that would allow for substantial renovations.
Ahead of the meeting, the Kennedy Center’s management said it would present the board with three approaches for consideration.
The options would include a complete closure or a partial closure that would allow 鈥渟ome continued public access and limited programming in spaces unaffected鈥� by the work. A third option would 鈥渃onsider a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the Center鈥檚 most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.鈥�
In blocking earlier plans for closure, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper the board’s March 16 vote backing the move appeared 鈥渋ll-informed and seemingly preordained.鈥� In moving forward, the board, which is largely made up of President allies, may face pressure to prove they’ve thoroughly considered their options.
During Trump鈥檚 second term, the Kennedy Center has become an unlikely 鈥� and highly visible 鈥� metaphor of presidential power. While he largely ignored the institution during his first round in Washington, Trump moved quickly to the institution鈥檚 leadership when he returned to office in January 2025 and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. His name was quickly added to the building, a move that Cooper also declared illegal.
Trump鈥檚 name came down from the building in June but the area where it once stood is now covered by a massive tarp. Cooper has asked the Kennedy Center for updates on how long the tarp is expected to stay in place.
Trump’s push to remake the nation’s capital
The Kennedy Center moves are part of Trump’s broader push to reshape the physical landscape of the nation’s capital in ways that have few modern parallels.
He demolished the of the White House and is building a in its place, though an appeals court that construction should stop because Congress didn’t approve the project. Trump has said he will take the case to the Supreme Court.
His remodel of the Lincoln Memorial has also stumbled after and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro refuted his claims that a vandal was responsible for the damage.
Meanwhile, Trump is planning extensive renovations of a golf course in , which could significantly reduce the public鈥檚 access to running and biking paths. He is also moving forward with a that will sit near Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump has derided the Kennedy Center as 鈥渞usted, rotted, and rat and bug infested鈥� and threatened to hand the building over to Congress after Cooper rejected the closure and the addition of the president鈥檚 name to the building.
The institution鈥檚 leadership has argued that it鈥檚 in genuine need of repair and updating.
Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center鈥檚 , guided a group of journalists through the building in April, highlighting severe water damage that he said corroded steel in some places as thin as tissue paper. Some pieces of equipment, including several 800-ton chillers that help cool the building, are decades old and in need of replacement.
At the time, Floca said he considered doing the repairs individually but insisted it was his recommendation to Trump to close the building and move forward with the renovation all at once.
鈥淲hen the president asked: 鈥楬ow do you make these projects the best? How do you make them really excellent and deliver them efficiently?鈥� my recommendation was you close the building and you do everything over a definite period of time, two years,鈥� he said.
More recently, the legal battles became the subject of barbs and jokes as comedian Bill Maher the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in late June. At the start of the program, Pamella Roland DeVos, a Kennedy Center trustee appointed by Trump, described the institution as a 鈥渘ational cultural center open not just for some but for every American patron who wants to experience the greatest art and expression the world has to offer.鈥�
鈥淭he responsibility that comes with it is one our board takes very seriously,鈥� she said.
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