WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center's new leadership wants to prove to critics that the building is damaged beyond simple repair. It's starting with Congress.
Matt Floca, the performing arts institution's new executive director and chief operating officer, is leading a series of tours this month that show water damage and intrusion to expansion joints, marble slabs and exterior pavers. Participants are guided through the building's water and HVAC systems, as well as the parking garages and loading docks that are said to need repairs.
The sessions began earlier this month while Congress was in recess and included staff for a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrats on Capitol Hill. A representative for Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser was also included on the tour.
Similar access has been provided for several corporate and individual donors and in the coming weeks, Floca is expected to provide tours for the lawmakers themselves and members of the media.
Assessing a suddenly controversial operation
Once one of Washington's relatively few apolitical spaces, the Kennedy Center has become a source of controversy during President Donald Trump's second term. Shortly after returning to office, Trump ousted the institution's previous leadership and replaced it with a handpicked board of directors.
The president's name was added to the building's facade and its programming took a Trump-friendly turn, serving as a venue for events such as the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's documentary, “Melania.”
Trump's move to shutter the building for two years starting in July, which was approved by the board last month, has spurred lawsuits and an outcry that the closure is merely a response to plunging sales as artists canceled Kennedy Center performances in droves.
The tours are intended to cut through that and show that the Kennedy Center, which began construction in 1965, is in genuine need of a fundamental update.
“As the July closure approaches, the Trump Kennedy Center is leading with transparency and making sure Congress and the public understand what’s at stake and why the work can’t wait,” Floca said in a statement.
In addition to staff for Schumer, Jeffries, and Bowser, the recent tour included representatives for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Mark Warner, D-Va., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., along with Reps. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Rick Larsen, D-Wash.
By virtue of their positions, these lawmakers are ex officio members of the Kennedy Center's board. Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi said working with both parties was a “top priority” as the institution implements Trump's vision for the renovation.
None of the participants discussed the tour on the record.
Need for repairs is not disputed
Trump secured nearly $257 million from Congress to repair the Kennedy Center. Those who are arguing against its closure haven't disputed the need for routine maintenance and repairs. They say the more substantial changes Trump has hinted at are in the works and should go through the typical review process that governs many major projects in the nation’s capital.
Trump has suggested changes at the Kennedy Center could be so dramatic that the steel supporting the structure could be “ fully exposed.”
According to a lawsuit filed last month against Trump, the Kennedy Center and others in the administration, “Demolition, new construction, major reconstruction, major renovation, or major aesthetic transformation of the Kennedy Center would permanently destroy historic fabric, degrade the monumental core’s vistas and public grounds, and compromise the Kennedy Center’s memorial purpose and architectural integrity, causing permanent, irreversible harm that no subsequent remedy can fully undo."
The Kennedy Center is entering a critical period before its anticipated July closure, which will produce staff reductions.
In the meantime, the Kennedy Center is still hosting shows, including the musical “Chicago,” which Trump attended this month. Performances of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” are on the calendar from June 18 through July 5. Comedian Bill Maher will be presented the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on June 28, just before the closure begins.
The Kennedy Center is part of Trump's broader effort to leave a lasting imprint on the Washington cityscape. He demolished the East Wing of the White House last year and wants to replace it with a ballroom, an effort that is also tangled in litigation.
The president also unveiled plans on Friday for an arch that would stand between the Lincoln Memorial in the east and Arlington National Cemetery toward the west and within a traffic circle connecting Washington with northern Virginia.
