A federal judge on Thursday denied a Democratic lawmaker’s request for an emergency hearing on the status of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, allowing the center to keep its main building closed temporarily.
Lawyers for the Kennedy Center told the judge earlier on Thursday that the closure was urgently needed to protect the public after a five-foot section of plaster fell from the ceiling during a recent storm.
After the closure began on Tuesday, lawyers for a Democratic lawmaker from Ohio, Representative Joyce Beatty, accused the center of violating a judicial order that barred it from shutting down for a $257 million renovation project championed by President Trump.
The Justice Department pushed back on the request for an emergency hearing from lawyers for Ms. Beatty, an ex officio board member who is suing the center.
“There is no emergency caused by defendants’ temporary closure of the center,” the department’s lawyers responded in a filing on Thursday, adding, “The only emergency is the risk to the public and the center’s employees and artists if it remained fully open without further safety assessment.”
Judge Christopher R. Cooper of Federal District Court in Washington appeared to be satisfied, at least for now, by the center’s explanation.
The Kennedy Center has been at the center of a legal and political maelstrom in Washington as Mr. Trump raged over a court decision that blocked his name, for a second time, from being affixed to the front of the building and brought up the possibility of eventual demolition of the center.
In his order on Thursday, Judge Cooper instructed the center to inform Ms. Beatty, along with a number of historic preservation groups that sued in a separate case, more than 30 days before carrying out any significant changes to their renovation plan, “including but not limited to any ‘demolition’ of the Center’s main building.”
On social media this week, Mr. Trump threatened to cancel the renovation if an appeals court did not allow his name to be restored. He told reporters on Wednesday that the Trump administration deserved credit if it was going to commit to rescuing the center from physical and financial turmoil.
“The Trump administration should certainly have recognition,” he said. “Because, frankly, if we don’t do that it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down.”
Mr. Trump and the Justice Department have raised the prospect of demolition as an eventual necessity if the Kennedy Center is not renovated. Images captured by news photographers on Wednesday showed Mr. Trump, sitting aboard Air Force One, reviewing what appeared to be a rendering of the center being demolished — stoking fears that such a move could be a serious prospect.
Lawyers for Ms. Beatty filed one of the photos with Judge Cooper on Thursday. They asked the judge to “make crystal clear” that his previous order blocking the closure of the building also prohibits demolishing it.
In addition to ordering the center to give notice of any possible demolition, the judge allowed Ms. Beatty’s lawyers to seek information about the prospect during the discovery process.
The White House and the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for clarification on whether demolition of any part of the institution was being considered.
Matt Floca, the center’s executive director, has tried to calm such fears, saying in a video posted on social media this week that “this is not about demolition” but rather about safeguarding the building for the future. The video detailed what Mr. Floca has described as the center’s serious maintenance needs, including structural steel corroded by water infiltration and outdated stage equipment.
In a sworn declaration filed with Judge Cooper, Mr. Floca said the closure would last seven days, during which officials would evaluate the extent of the safety concerns. He said that other areas of the ceiling showed water damage, and that the possibility of extending the closure would be assessed on a “weekly basis.”
For months, Judge Cooper has assessed the legality of the Trump administration’s agenda at the Kennedy Center as Democratic lawmakers and historic preservation organizations have reacted furiously to his complete takeover of the institution.
The judge ruled in May that the Trump-allied board of the Kennedy Center had unlawfully renamed the arts institution after Mr. Trump, writing that only Congress — which dedicated the building to President Kennedy after his assassination — had the authority to do so. At the same time, the judge temporarily blocked the center’s plan to close for two years of renovations, reasoning that the board had not given the plan proper scrutiny.
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