Kennedy Center demolition requires 30-day notice, judge rules
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President Trump aboard Air Force One checking a Kennedy Center large printout after landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on . Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Trump officials must give 30 days' written notice before making any changes to the Kennedy Center "including but not limited to any 'demolition'" of the main building, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Why it matters: The ruling reinforces an earlier injunction blocking the Kennedy Center from closing for its planned renovation, after President Trump and administration officials raised the possibility of demolishing the building.
- The ruling allows the center to continue making "emergency repairs" rather than halt them entirely.
Driving the news: District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled Thursday that the defendants must file a "detailed status report, supported by a sworn declaration from a knowledgeable representative of the Kennedy Center, on the 'temporary closure' and emergency repairs described" in the Kennedy Center board's most recent court filing, per a minute order published Thursday.
- Representatives for the White House and Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Catch up quick: Trump said on social media Tuesday that the center was going to be closed.
- Shortly after, an announcement played over the center's loudspeakers telling attendees that it was closed. Legal counsel for the institution initially said someone had improperly triggered a fire alarm, causing the loudspeaker announcement.
- But when the plaintiff's staff attempted to enter Wednesday during regular operating hours, security denied them entry and said the building was closed for interior construction and safety reasons.
- The staff member said she later saw workers using forklifts to bring in additional construction-style gates and watched a forklift carrying permanent fencing repeatedly strike the building's structural pillars.
Context: Trump was recently pictured looking at a markup reading, "Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED."
- He told reporters on Wednesday that the Kennedy Center had been bleeding money before he "got involved."
- "For the Trump administration, for me, to get involved and to take that on long term, and to carry it, or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition."
- "Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped out ... You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceiling ...It's been very badly maintained for 25 years."
Zoom in: Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) has been in a legal battle with the administration since the center's board, made up of Trump appointees, began making changes including adding the president's name to the building's facade.
- Cooper has repeatedly blocked that move, determining that only Congress can change the building's name and that even a small inscription would violate the legislation that christened the building.
- Trump subsequently announced that the center would close.
State of play: Beatty's legal team says it is unclear what construction is underway and has raised concerns that the center could undertake demolition or other work that would make public access impossible and circumvent the court's order.
- The previous injunction didn't prevent the center from undertaking renovations and repairs without shutting down.
- But Beatty's attorneys say, "the nature of the construction activities and any potential demolition are unclear. Given the unexplained and unlawful closure, it is possible Defendants intend to undertake immediate steps in order to make public access practically impossible for the foreseeable future," the filing reads.
Go deeper: Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board votes to close building
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.
