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A group of cultural and historic preservation groups on Wednesday asked a federal judge to block President Donald Trump from making a major renovation of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which has undergone major changes since the president returned to office last year.
The groups asked US District Judge Christopher Cooper to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent any construction ahead of the project’s July 6 unveiling, saying they are concerned that the president and the center’s board of trustees will ignore historic preservation laws intended to preserve the building.
Attorney Greg Werkheiser said after the hearing that the rules governing the process “go to a very important question: Are we slowing down and taking action before we make changes to the structures that define the American experience?”
Attorneys for the Department of Justice, representing the president and the board, argued that the building management plans were limited and within the board’s authority, saying additional permits were not needed.
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A group of cultural and historic preservation groups has asked a federal judge to block President Donald Trump from making major renovations to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Getty Images)
After returning to the White House, Trump fired the agency’s previous leadership and installed a hand-picked board of partners who appointed him as chairman, a move that sparked pushback from many artists. Trump’s name was also added to the front of the building to read: “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Trump announced a planned renovation of the facility earlier this year.
The hearing on Wednesday took place after the previous day’s disagreement about the future of the center.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, also filed a lawsuit to stop the overhaul as an acting board member, and Cooper also led that lawsuit.
The center’s executive director, Matt Floca, a former facilities manager who was fired from a Trump-appointed board, testified that the planned renovations would correct decades of wear and tear, including extensive water damage to a part of the building that had been dubbed “the swamp.”
Exterior of the Kennedy Center on the Potomac River, Washington, DC (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
“The most efficient and effective way to end the size of the projects we have to complete is to close the center,” said Floca.
Advocates for preservation groups questioned the claims about the limited scope of the project, citing Trump’s statements that he would “fully expose” the building’s steel frame.
Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said those concerns were blown out of proportion.
“There’s no risk that there will be any collective changes … that we will wake up and the building will be gone,” Roth said.
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President Donald Trump stands in the presidential box as he visits the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
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The lawsuits over the fate of the Kennedy Center come amid other battles against Trump’s efforts to alter historic landmarks in the nation’s capital.
Since returning to office last year, Trump has frustrated conservationists, including by opening the White House Rose Garden. Last year, the White House demolished the East Wing to make way for a proposed $400 million presidential ballroom, although construction of the ballroom has been halted by a judge as the case continues.
Trump also has plans to build a 250-foot “triumph arch” to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
