Kennedy Center Could Close Immediately as Leaders Warn of Bankruptcy

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could shut its main building as early as Tuesday, September 15, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Per the Post, a 57-page packet sent to the center's board of trustees ahead of a special meeting on Tuesday lays out two resolutions. The first addresses the center's finances, with officials warning that the institution could be unable to meet payroll or pay routine maintenance contracts within weeks. The second would close the main building immediately on safety grounds.

The financial resolution ties a rescue to public recognition of President Donald Trump, who installed himself as chairman last year. According to the Post, the packet says Trump has offered to raise the funds needed to keep the center out of bankruptcy during a planned renovation, but is unlikely to do so without appropriate credit for his role. Trustees are being asked to choose from 10 possible inscriptions for the building's exterior, one of which references a "Trump Kennedy Center Fund."

The proposal follows a board vote less than a month ago to inscribe Trump's name on the facade. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who ruled in May that only Congress can rename the center and ordered the name removed, is weighing a challenge to that earlier plan.

The Post also reports that the center's financial picture has worsened since Trump's name was first added to the building in December. By May, officials projected roughly $124 million in revenue against a $220 million budget, leaving an estimated $23 million deficit even after spending cuts.

On the safety side, Executive Director Matt Floca told trustees that a section of ceiling plaster fell roughly 60 feet in the Grand Foyer during a September 4 storm, with no injuries. Inspectors identified additional water damage inside the building, and engineers found severe structural corrosion in dozens of the exterior soffit panels examined so far. A draft resolution describes the building as unsafe for continued occupancy.

Trump first proposed a two-year closure in February. The board approved it in March, Cooper blocked it in May, and trustees approved it again on August 13 as part of a roughly $250 million renovation. Tuesday's resolution would move the closure up to immediately.

 

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