Kennedy Center’s Future Hangs in the Balance as Report Warns of Imminent Closure
A Washington Post report says the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is nearing bankruptcy and could close as early as Tuesday, based on a 57-page packet presented to trustees ahead of a special meeting. Leaders appointed largely by President Donald Trump reportedly argued that avoiding “certain fiscal collapse” would require putting Trump’s name on the building’s facade to secure his fundraising, and they also recommended closing the main building after a recent ceiling collapse. The center has reportedly warned it may soon be unable to make payroll or pay routine maintenance contracts, while ticket sales have declined in the 10 months since Trump’s takeover and revenue is projected to fall nearly $100 million short of target; officials predicted this fiscal year’s revenue will miss its budget target by 70 percent and contributed revenue will fall 25 percent short. Executive director Matt Floca told trustees a roughly four-by-five-foot section of ceiling fell about 60 feet in a concert hall entrance, and inspections found additional water-related deterioration and corrosion, including severe corrosion in 46 of 278 exterior soffit panels examined. Trustees Joyce Beatty’s lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, criticized the naming push as a repeated attempt to “deface” the memorial and described it as holding the center “hostage.”
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Hidden Hoards, Public Fury, and Forgery Wars