A recent legal filing made by the Trump administration says the Kennedy Center is “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital,” arguing in favor of an ambitious renovation of the building.
The filing notes that President Trump “obtained $258 million in funding from Congress for capital restoration, and has marshaled a new donor base to finance an endowment for the Center,” according to NBC News. The report adds that a potential outdoor amphitheater would “fail to adequately honor” President John F. Kennedy, “but would be simpler and more economical to build, operate, and maintain.”
“Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years,” attorneys from the Department of Justice wrote.
Ohio Democrat Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member of the Kennedy Center, filed a lawsuit attempting to end the Trump administration’s efforts to save the building. She is seeking an injunction to stop the board from naming various areas of the center in honor of Trump, which are part of the efforts to restore the building’s condition.
Democrats are attempting to halt the two-year renovation project, which involves extensive electrical, stage, and leak-prevention repairs. Work on the venue’s heating and cooling, electrical, and fire safety systems is expected to be completed by 2028.