The Trump-led board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has voted to move forward with a new plan to shutter its main building for renovations, according to the New York Times.
Under the plan, the Kennedy Center’s main building will be closed while a newer extension called The Reach will remain open for limited programming and operate as an active memorial to John F. Kennedy.
The board also voted to inscribe President Donald Trump’s name on the building beneath the main signage. Representatives for the Kennedy Center did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
The latest decision follows an “independent and objective analysis” of possible options by outside consulting firm Delta Consulting Group, which determined that keeping the main building open during renovations would be significantly more expensive.
The board’s resolution states that it is “fully committed” to continuing arts and educational programming during the closure and maintaining the “historic and architecturally significant nature of the center’s main building.”
Per the Times, the renovations would include new furniture, a new coffee shop, electronic ticketing kiosks and $7 million in public restroom renovations. The target for reopening would be summer of 2028.
It also directed officials to take “all legal means” to recognize and honor Trump’s “existential and unprecedented contributions to the survival of the center.” Per the resolution, the inscription underneath the Kennedy Center would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”
The move comes as The Kennedy Center has been in limbo with performers exiting and going elsewhere and its workforce, which was already downsized through a round of layoffs in anticipation of a full closure, left in the dark about the future.
The new plan is subject to approval from a federal judge, who had temporarily blocked the board’s previous plan to shutter the entire Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation earlier this year following a lawsuit from Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who holds an ex officio seat on the board.
At the time, Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the original vote was “ill-informed and seemingly preordained” and that the board was “derelict” and based its decision on an “insufficient, one-sided presentation of information.” Cooper added that they “neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions.”
Additionally, Cooper ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the Kennedy Center. An appeal to the judge’s ruling by the board was rejected by the D.C. Appeals Court.
Cooper will review the new plans for construction and future operations next week.
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