A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to give at least 30 days’ notice before moving to demolish the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after the US president warned that it could be “ripped down.”
The US district judge Christopher Cooper issued the order on Thursday after lawyers for the Democratic congresswoman Joyce Beatty submitted evidence of Trump’s comments and sought clarification over whether the building could be closed or bulldozed.
Trump said on Wednesday that his administration deserved recognition for its efforts to renovate the Kennedy Center, including by putting his name on the national arts complex in Washington.
“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition because, frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close,” he told reporters in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It’ll end up being ripped down.”
The Kennedy Center was established by Congress as a living memorial to the slain president John F Kennedy and opened in 1971. It has hosted many of the world’s leading performers and run numerous educational programmes.
But the centre shut down this week following claims of serious structural deterioration, and its board has voted to close it for up to two years for a $257m renovation.
Matt Floca, the centre’s executive director and chief operating officer, said in a court filing that the building had been closed for at least seven days to assess “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration”.
He said the temporary closure followed an inspection of the roof terrace canopy and a partial ceiling collapse earlier this month, and was separate from the longer-term renovation plans. The administration has said the seven-day closure does not breach an earlier court order restricting its ability to shut the centre.
Beatty, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, has challenged Trump’s takeover of the institution and his attempts to put his name on the building.
