The board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, all hand-picked by President Donald Trump, says the center could be forced to close down as soon as Tuesday. They say the center is on the brink of bankruptcy, but putting Trump’s name on it could turn things around.
The board is set to hold a special meeting on Tuesday. In the 57-page draft resolution, they said the institution faces “certain fiscal collapse” if Trump’s name is not added back to the building.
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Officials with the center recommended it close immediately, warning that it could soon become unsafe for people to be there. The board could approve the closure at Tuesday’s meeting.
The center faces two crises: lack of funding and a deteriorating building.
Trump will help … for a price
Officials say that, in a matter of weeks, they won’t be able to make payroll or pay routine maintenance contracts. They argue if they put Trump’s name back on the building, he’ll likely help raise the money the center needs to stay open.
Center officials say Trump, who chairs the board, has “offered to step in and raise the necessary funds” to keep the Kennedy Center going but not without the “proper recognition.”
Last December, Trump’s name was added to the building, officially making it the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Then in June, Trump’s name was removed after a judge ruled that the center’s board acted beyond its authority when it voted to rename the facility without Congressional approval.
The draft resolution includes ten options for adding Trump’s name back to the building, this time below the building’s main signage. One example given was, “Renovation, Restoration and Endowment overseen by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.” Another reads, “renovated, restored, and sustained through the generosity of President Donald J. Trump.”
“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,” the resolution says.
In August, the center voted to add Trump’s name back to the building and close for a renovation that could take years. The board later told a federal judge it would not attempt to add Trump’s name to the building or grounds until Oct. 8 at the earliest, according to CNN.
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The Kennedy Center spans about 1.5 million square feet on a 17-acre site overlooking the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit that blocked the board from adding Trump’s name continues and there’s a status conference scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Deterioration concerns
The other resolution trustees will consider on Tuesday would address the deteriorating building, which the center’s management describes as an increasingly urgent threat.
Earlier this month, Executive Director Matt Floca said that during a severe storm, a roughly four-by-five-foot section of ceiling plaster fell about 60 feet in the Grand Foyer and scattered debris near the Concert Hall entrance. The draft resolution said inspectors found at least seven other locations with visible water-related deterioration.
Floca also said engineers examined the outside of the building and found widespread corrosion in structural components of the soffit panels that form the underside of an overhang wrapping around the center. In a memo, he said roughly half of the building’s 278 panels were examined, and 46 had severe structural corrosion and another 93 had mild-to-moderate corrosion. He said the engineers estimated about one-third of the panels require immediate replacement.
A draft resolution says Floca and Delta Consulting Group, which reviewed the center’s renovation plans, deemed the building “unsafe for continued occupancy.” They said delaying renovations could endanger the lives of employees and the public.
The center’s newer area, The REACH, will stay open if the board votes to immediately close the building on Tuesday. The draft proposal says performances and other programming would continue at other venues.
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