A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to give 30 days’ notice before any demolition takes place at the Kennedy Center, less than a day after Donald Trump said the performing arts complex could be “ripped down”.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper also ordered the Justice Department to provide a detailed report by next Wednesday on the centre’s temporary closure and emergency repairs.
The department told the court that the closure would last one week, “unless extended”, while safety hazards were addressed. Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center’s executive director, said most public areas had been shut because of “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration”.
Mr Floca told staff that any extension would be considered week by week. “To be clear, this is not a decision to effectuate the Board’s separate vote to close the building for renovation,” he wrote. “It is a distinct decision by management to address imminent life-safety risks pending the Court’s ruling on that vote.”
The judge rejected an emergency hearing request from Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member who sued last year to stop Mr Trump’s changes to the Kennedy Center. She had described the closure as unlawful and warned that access to the building could be made “practically impossible for the foreseeable future”.
Ms Beatty also said a witness had seen a forklift hit the building’s pillars several times. Fencing was erected around the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, although Roma Davari, the centre’s vice-president of public relations, said: “Nothing is being demolished.”
Her comments came after Mr Trump said that if his administration raised money for the restoration, it should receive recognition. “Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” he said.
A photograph taken aboard Air Force One showed Mr Trump looking at a document bearing the words “Kennedy Center Demolished”. The image was submitted as evidence in the emergency application.
The ruling is the latest development in a dispute over Mr Trump’s plans for the performing arts centre. Judge Cooper ruled on Tuesday that the president’s name could not be added to the building without congressional approval, saying the board’s resolution breached a federal court order and legislation passed by Congress.
The board, which is made up of Mr Trump’s allies, subsequently voted to close the centre for renovations. Congress appropriated more than 250 million dollars for restoration last year, but the judge has yet to decide whether the board’s vote was lawful.
The Kennedy Center opened in 1971 and is the national cultural centre and official “living memorial” to President John F Kennedy.
