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A group of cultural and historical preservation groups on Wednesday asked a federal judge to block President Donald Trump from making major renovations to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which has undergone significant changes since the president returned to office last year.
The groups asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent any construction before the project’s scheduled launch on July 6, saying they are concerned that the center’s president and board of directors will ignore historic preservation rules aimed at maintaining the building.
Attorney Greg Werkheiser said after the hearing that the laws governing the process “go to the fundamental question of: Do we slow down and take stock before making changes to the properties that define the American experience?”
Justice Department lawyers, representing the president and the board, argued that the administration’s plans for the building are limited in scope and within the board’s authority, saying no additional approvals were needed.
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A group of cultural and historical preservation groups 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 overthrew the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of allies who named him president, a move that sparked negative reactions from many artists. Trump’s name was also later added to the building’s facade to read: “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
Trump announced the renovations planned for the center earlier this year.
Wednesday’s hearing followed another held the day before on the center’s future.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, also sued to stop the renovations as an ex officio member of the board, and Cooper is overseeing that case as well.
The center’s executive director, Matt Floca, a former facilities manager who was promoted to the board of directors selected by Trump, acknowledged that the scheduled renovations are simply to repair decades of wear and tear, including extensive water damage to a part of the building that was nicknamed “the swamp.”
Exterior of the Kennedy Center on the Potomac River, Washington, DC (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
“The most efficient and effective way to complete the magnitude of projects we need to complete is to close the center,” Floca said.
Lawyers for the preservation groups disputed claims about the project’s limited scope, citing Trump’s statements that it would “completely expose” the building’s steel skeleton.
Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said those concerns have been overblown.
“There’s no risk of unilateral changes… that we wake up and the building disappears,” Roth said.
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President Donald Trump stands in the presidential box as he tours 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 fights against Trump’s efforts to change historical landmarks in the nation’s capital.
Since returning to office last year, Trump has frustrated conservationists, including paving the White House Rose Garden. Last year, the White House tore down its East Wing to make room for the president’s proposed $400 million ballroom, although a judge halted construction of the ballroom while litigation continues.
Trump also plans to erect a 250-foot “arch of triumph” to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.