Plaintiffs in Ongoing Kennedy Center Lawsuit Call for Leadership to Step Aside or for Judge to Appoint Receivership
Eight preservation organizations involved in a lawsuit over proposed changes to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have urged the institution’s leadership to step aside or asked a court to consider appointing a receiver, arguing trustees are “fiduciaries, not owners.” The plaintiffs are the American Institute of Architects, American Society of Landscape Architects, Committee of 100 on the Federal City, DC Preservation League, Docomomo US, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Society of Architectural Historians, and the Cultural Landscape Foundation; their case is separate from a lawsuit filed by Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center trustee. The call followed reporting that a 57-page document circulated ahead of a trustees’ meeting warned of “certain fiscal collapse” and possible bankruptcy unless President Donald Trump’s name was placed on the facade, and even recommended closing the center. US District Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled on Tuesday that facade changes would be illegal without congressional approval, reiterating a December ruling after the board voted in August for wording crediting restoration to Trump; Trump later said the center could close without such recognition.
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This story was covered in Museum Expansions, AI Book Carnage, and Power Plays