DOJ warns Kennedy Center will be replaced if renovation canceled
A Department of Justice lawyer warned that if the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts does not undergo its planned two-year renovation, it risks being demolished and replaced by an outdoor amphitheater. The lawyer,Brantley Mayers,emphasized that without structural repairs addressing issues like water damage and rusting steel,the Center could deteriorate further and eventually be torn down. The renovation is funded by a $257 million allocation, aiming to fix various structural problems. Meanwhile, there is ongoing legal action from Rep. Joyce Beatty,opposing the Trump administration’s plans to add Trump’s name to the building and to close it during renovations. The Kennedy Center board has approved both the renovation and the name change, which they plan to publicly call “The John F.Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing arts, renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump.” The legal dispute remains unresolved,with a court hearing scheduled. The DOJ official linked the Center’s financial stability and structural integrity to President Trump’s efforts and recognition, asserting that without this association, donor contributions would decline, worsening the Center’s condition.
A Department of Justice lawyer warned a Washington, D.C., federal court that if the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts does not close for President Donald Trump’s planned two-year renovation, the facility could be demolished.
Brantley Mayers, a DOJ Civil Division attorney, wrote in a court filing on Monday that the Kennedy Center is facing a dire need for construction and that a failure to update the facility could lead to it being replaced by an outdoor amphitheater. He made the suggestion in the Trump administration’s response to Rep. Joyce Beatty’s (D-OH) emergency motion to halt the center from putting Trump’s name on the building’s facade.
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“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,” Mayers wrote, referring to Trump’s efforts to fix the building structurally.
“Such a replacement will fail to adequately honor President John F. Kennedy, but would be simpler and more economical to build, operate, and maintain,” Mayers continued.
Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, has taken the Trump administration to court over its plans to add Trump’s name to the building and close it for two years for a structural overhaul. She filed a complaint over the closure in March, calling it part of the Administration’s “unlawful efforts to rename, shutter, and gut the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
The Kennedy Center board voted in mid-August both to move forward with closing the facility for the two-year structural construction project and to move ahead with adding Trump’s name to the building. In a separate court filing, the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees told the federal district court that it will call the facility “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump.”
With Beatty’s emergency motion pending regarding the name change and a court hearing scheduled for Thursday at 2:00 p.m., the legal status of plans for the center’s future and title currently remain in flux.
But in Monday’s filing, Mayers wrote that the Kennedy Center Board “recognizes that President Trump’s efforts and prestige provide the sole hope for the Center’s financial survival, and structural renewal.” He also tied the name of the facility and recognition of Trump to its structural and financial integrity.
“The Board also underscores, and the undisputed evidence demonstrates, that without the prominent recognition of The Trump Administration, and President Trump’s efforts, the donors will not contribute, and the Center will continue to be in a financial and structural death spiral,” Mayers wrote.
The renovations were initially recommended by the current executive director and former vice president of facilities at the Kennedy Center, Matt Floca. The construction will focus on various structural issues around the facility, including water damage, rusting steel that Floca says feels like “tissue paper,” and over three decades-old industrial chillers.
AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE STATE OF THE KENNEDY CENTER BEFORE TWO-YEAR RENOVATION
The renovation projects are set to be funded by the $257 million earmarked for the Kennedy Center in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Beatty’s office for comment.
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