President Donald Trump announced on Sunday his intention to close Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts for two years, citing the need for extensive renovations. In a post on the Truth Social platform, the president said the decision came after a year of review with “Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants,” finding that renovating while the center remained open would be lengthy and impractical. Instead, work can proceed uninhibited following a planned closing date on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
“This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before,” Trump wrote in the post. “America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come.”
The focus of the renovations is unclear, though Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell said in a post on X that “decades of deferred maintenance and repairs” would be addressed. The post also said Congress had appropriated $257 million for the work, which the center “desperately needs.”
The timing of Trump’s announcement was met with criticism by some arts patrons, lawmakers, and others, as the Kennedy Center has been at the center of controversy in the president’s second term. Shortly after taking office, Trump replaced the members of the center’s board of trustees, and in turn was voted chairman. In December, that board voted unanimously to approve adding Trump’s name to the facility. These events have triggered a rash of artist cancellations, such as the recent decision of Oscar-winning composer Philip Glass to cancel the June world premiere of his latest symphony. In a statement, Glass said, “Symphony No. 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony. Therefore, I feel an obligation to withdraw this Symphony premiere from the Kennedy Center under its current leadership.”
The Kennedy Center opened in 1971, and in more than six decades since has become home to some of the nation’s premier performing arts, including the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). Historically, it welcomes 2 million visitors and puts on more than 2,200 performances each year. Those events now face an uncertain immediate future, including the NSO, which puts on approximately 150 concerts all year-round.
Main Image: John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.; Credit: Adobe/avmedved
