A chunk of the Kennedy Center’s ceiling collapsed after a vicious storm plowed through Washington DC, leading a spokesperson to call the incident another reason why the performing arts center needs to be renovated.
Debris was scattered on the building’s red carpet in its Grand Foyer, images of the damage revealed online.
Kennedy Center spokesman Roma Daravai said it was “another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed.”
She said the failure comes from “decades of neglect and deferred maintenance by the previous leadership.” In posts on XSshe called the building a danger to the public saying there was “no legitimate reason to further halt the renovations!!” in posts on X.
It comes during ongoing litigation over the future of the Center, which its board wants to close for two years for renovations, which it claims are desperately needed.
The board voted last month to move forward with its planned $250 million renovation.
An Appeals Court ruled in July against the Trump administration’s effort to stop the president’s name from being removed from the building. Afterward, the board voted to inscribe “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” onto the building.
The Justice Department threatened demolition of the building last month. “Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down,” DOJ lawyers wrote.
The storm that ripped through the region is believed to be the most fierce since a 2012 derecho hit the city.
GOES-19 Satellite data reported an average of 68 lightning flashes per minute, the Capital Weather Gang reported. The storm felled massive trees around the city, including one on the US Capitol Grounds bearing a plaque from 1949.
Nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport recorded 1.25 inches of rain in less than an hour.
The post Chunk of Kennedy Center’s ceiling collapses after vicious storm plowed through nation’s capital overnight appeared first on New York Post.
