The Kennedy Center’s board voted on Tuesday, 15 September, to close the Washington performing arts venue amid financial difficulties and a continuing legal dispute over President Donald Trump’s name, according to people familiar with the decision.
The vote came hours after a federal judge blocked plans to install new inscriptions honouring Mr Trump or rename the centre’s grounds in his honour.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the proposed wording — including “renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump” — and the proposed name “President Donald J. Trump Plaza” would breach an earlier court order and federal law governing the memorial to John F. Kennedy.
“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Judge Cooper wrote.
The board approved the plans in August, arguing that Mr Trump’s role in securing support for the centre’s refurbishment should be recognised. A further inscription linked to a proposed $100 million Trump Kennedy Center Fund was also considered, but Judge Cooper declined to rule on it because the fundraising target had not been reached.
The closure vote is understood to relate to a two-year renovation programme costing about $285 million. Details of the plan were disclosed in court filings last month, which said alternative arrangements had been considered but would have involved partial closures over four years and cost substantially more.
Associated Press reported that Mr Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took part in Tuesday’s board meeting. The board is chaired by Mr Trump and includes members appointed by him.
The legal battle follows a ruling in May that ordered Mr Trump’s name removed from the building and said only Congress had the authority to change the name of the institution, which was established as a national memorial to President Kennedy.
