Kennedy Center ceiling partially collapses as Trump-led board pushes for 2-year closure
The Kennedy Center shared photos on Saturday that showed a partial ceiling collapse that happened during a rainstorm in the main hallway of the over 50-year-old performing arts building.
Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center, said the collapse underscored the need to close the building for renovations.
"Another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President [Donald] Trump has championed," Daravi said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital, adding, "This structural failure stems from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance by the previous leadership, and there’s no justification for further delays in restoring America’s cultural center."
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The center’s board, which is led by Trump, voted in August to close the building for two years.
This came after a judge ruled in May that Trump’s name must come off the building months after the board voted to name it: "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."
"Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into 'NEVER NEVER LAND,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. "Therefore, based on the fact that the Radical Left Democrats care more about opposing your favorite President, ME, than saving a dying Performing Arts Center, almost all of which lose large amounts of money throughout the Country, we are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it."
Last month, the board voted to rename the institution’s grounds "President Donald J. Trump Plaza" and to put lettering on the building that says "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump."
The board remains in court fighting to move forward with the name changes, as well as the closure and $250 million in renovations.
Grace Terpstra, founder of the community group Keep the KC, which is fighting the closure, said she thinks the board will use the collapse "to make the point that the whole thing needs to be shut down, that it’s going to fall on everybody."
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She added, "I think they’ll try to make it into a bigger thing and show that they’ve found a lot of other things."
A tarp and scaffolding has covered the front of the building since the bronze letters that made up Trump’s name were removed in June.
Last week, the center did remove a piece of modern artwork called "Blue" that has been outside the building since 2019, saying in a statement, "we are honored to have been stewards" of the late sculptor Joel Shapiro's work.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.