The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees is expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on whether to close the performing arts center’s main building immediately, citing worsening structural problems and an approaching financial crisis.
The private meeting, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET, will now focus exclusively on what Kennedy Center officials called the “necessary closure” of the building, according to an overnight federal court filing reported by ABC News.
Joe LaFauci, the Kennedy Center’s vice president for board relations, notified trustees of the revised agenda Monday evening. He attributed the change to “recently exacerbated structural emergencies.”
The board is expected to consider a resolution declaring the main building “unsafe for continued occupancy” and ordering it “closed to patrons forthwith.” Programming would be moved to off-site venues and the Reach, a newer and smaller building on the Kennedy Center campus, according to Forbes.
The vote comes after a section of the Grand Foyer ceiling reportedly collapsed during a rainstorm earlier this month. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posted security footage Monday that appeared to show debris falling onto an empty red carpet.
Lutnick said patrons could have been killed if a performance had been underway and argued that people should no longer be permitted inside the building.
Kennedy Center officials say additional water intrusion and deterioration have increased the risks to visitors and employees. However, attorneys for Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, dispute the board’s description of the building as unsafe. Beatty’s legal team said Delta Consulting Group, one of the consultants cited by the center, had not reached that conclusion, The Guardian reported.
Beatty, an ex officio Kennedy Center trustee, is suing over the board’s previous decision to add President Donald Trump’s name to the federally established memorial.
Additional Trump recognition proposal withdrawn
Tuesday’s meeting had also been expected to address a separate resolution proposing 10 possible ways to recognize Trump on the building’s exterior.
That resolution is no longer on the agenda, LaFauci told trustees. He said, however, that the board continues to stand by the recognition resolution it approved on Aug. 13.
The withdrawn proposal included several possible inscriptions crediting Trump with overseeing the building’s renovation, restoration or financial rescue. One option would have recognized an endowment associated with the “Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The board previously voted 23-3 to close the facility for two years as part of a renovation project expected to cost approximately $285 million. Congress has appropriated $257 million for the work, while Kennedy Center officials have said Trump could help raise an additional $100 million.
Officials have also warned that the center could soon be unable to meet payroll and routine maintenance obligations. A draft resolution obtained by NPR said the institution’s financial position had become so precarious that it might be unable to cover those expenses within weeks.
The center’s leadership has argued that recognizing Trump could help secure his participation in fundraising and oversight of the renovation. The proposal’s withdrawal means trustees will not choose among the 10 new recognition options Tuesday, but it does not reverse the board’s earlier support for honoring the president.
Closure plan remains tied up in court
The board’s meeting follows a 10 a.m. ET scheduling conference before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who is overseeing Beatty’s lawsuit.
Cooper ruled in May that the board had acted unlawfully when it added Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center, concluding that Congress—not the board—has the authority to change the institution’s official name. Trump’s name was subsequently removed from the building.
The judge is now considering whether the board’s proposed inscriptions would violate federal law prohibiting additional memorials at Washington’s official memorial to President John F. Kennedy. He may also be asked to determine whether the board can proceed with its latest closure plan.
If trustees approve the resolution Tuesday, the main building could close immediately and remain unavailable to patrons throughout the planned two-year renovation.
