A Justice Department filing is raising the prospect that the Kennedy Center could eventually be demolished if plans to close the building for extensive renovations are blocked.
The government says the nearly 55-year-old complex has extensive maintenance and structural problems that could make it unsafe to operate if they are not addressed.
Monday’s filing did not present demolition as an approved project. It noted that an open-air performance venue along the Potomac River has previously been proposed if the exiting building were someday removed.
The ongoing Kennedy Center fight
The warning is part of an ongoing court fight over Trump-backed changes to the Kennedy Center.
At a mid-August meeting, trustees approved another plan to close the center for renovations and again place Trump’s name on the building. That followed a May ruling in Rep. Joyce Beatty’s favor, when a federal judge halted the earlier closure and ordered Trump’s name removed. The judge said the board had not followed the legal process required before taking those steps.
Beatty is challenging the board’s actions in court. Her lawyers called the filing a “not-so-subtle threat to demolish the Kennedy Center if the President doesn’t get his way.”
The center is also struggling financially. The Washington Post reported that internal financial records showed ticket revenue and fundraising falling far short of the center’s targets, with officials projecting a $23 million deficit for the current fiscal year.
Kennedy Center officials say the current leadership inherited years of financial problems. They argue the renovation would address the building’s condition and put the institution on stronger financial footing.
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments in Beatty’s case Thursday. The administration has agreed not to move ahead with its latest planned changes to the building before Sept. 8.
Round out your reading
- All your questions about napping, answered.
- Trump’s $5,000 promise echoes past payouts that never materialized.
- Inside the effort to make data centers pay their share of electricity costs.
- Why did the Feds seize the ’largest Martian meteorite on Earth’?
- Photos and video show exactly where and when Trump visited Ground Zero after 9/11.
