The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close for approximately two years for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding,” President Trump announced on Sunday.
Complete closure of the performing arts center in Washington, D.C., will start on July 4, Mr. Trump said in a social media post. The decision to fully close the center over a partial construction came after a year of review by experts, the president said.
“The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result!,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before.”
Interim Kennedy Center Director Richard Grenell said on social media the center “desperately needs this renovation and temporarily closing the Center just makes sense,” adding that it will be “a brief closure in retrospect.”
Mr. Trump and Grenell did not provide specifics on any possible structural problems with the center.
The announcement comes as several high-profile performers scheduled to appear at the U.S. capital’s leading performing arts venue announced they were pulling out following Mr. Trump’s takeover. On Thursday, Mr. Trump hosted a premiere of the Melania Trump documentary “Melania” at the Kennedy Center.
It was unclear what the renovations would entail and what exactly Mr. Trump meant by a “Complete Rebuilding.” The president last year had the East Wing of the White House demolished to make way for a new ballroom, the future of which is currently the subject of an ongoing lawsuit seeking to halt its construction.
Staffers at the Kennedy Center told CBS News they learned of renovation plans on Sunday evening from Mr. Trump’s social media post.
“I don’t know what any of it means,” said one senior staffer, granted anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly about Kennedy Center operations.
Mr. Trump on Sunday said the center’s closure is subject to approval by Kennedy Center board members. The president ousted a group of Kennedy Center board members last February and installed close allies as replacements, who then voted to name him chair.
In December, the center’s board voted to rename the organization as the Trump-Kennedy Center, and the president’s name was added to the exterior of the building. The move drew outrage from Democratic lawmakers, who argued the name can’t be changed without legislation because the center was created by Congress.
John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, who is running as a Democrat to fill the House seat being vacated by Rep. Jerry Nadler, said on social media, “Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the building. He can try to kill JFK. But JFK is kept alive by us now rising up to remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice, and restore the freedoms generations fought for.”
Democracy Defenders Action and the Washington Litigation Group, which have already sued the Trump administration on behalf of former board member Rep. Joyce Beatty over the change to the venue’s name, threatened further legal action Sunday over the closure.
“The Kennedy Center was illegally renamed. Ever since, artists and patrons have left in protest. That is embarrassing. Donald Trump’s recent announcement that he will be closing the Center for two years raises serious questions about whether his purpose isn’t to renovate but to shut the Center down to avoid further embarrassment,” the two groups said in a joint statement. “This will add further injury to the damage already done. We already have court proceedings pending and we will be considering all legal remedies to address this new and concerning development.”
CBS News has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.
