The Kennedy Center’s board voted Thursday to close the arts center’s main building for up to two years during renovations. Members also voted to add President Trump’s name to the facade. The measure passed 20 to 3, renaming the building the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.
Under the plan, the center’s main hall will shut down. The REACH, a 2019 addition to the complex, will stay open for limited programming and continue to serve as a memorial to the former president. Board members put the renovation cost at roughly $257 million.
Thursday’s vote is not the board’s first attempt at a closure. In March, the same board approved a full shutdown of the complex, but a federal judge temporarily blocked that plan. The judge ruled that board members lacked sufficient information to justify the decision at the time. The board’s latest vote will still need the judge’s sign-off before renovations can begin.
Trump has chaired the Kennedy Center’s board since early in his second term, and most current board members are allies he appointed. The push to rename the building after himself, alongside the closure plan, has drawn criticism from arts advocates. They argue the moves politicize an institution that has traditionally stayed above partisan fights.
Supporters of the plan say the century-old facility needs the work regardless of the political fight around it. They point to aging infrastructure that has gone without a major overhaul in decades. Critics counter that a two-year closure will disrupt programming and displace resident companies that rely on the venue.
Whether the renovation and rename move forward now depends on the federal judge who blocked the board’s earlier attempt. A ruling on this latest vote has not yet been scheduled. That leaves the Kennedy Center’s near-term future in legal limbo even as the board pushes ahead with its plan.
