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In
a court filing Friday, Kennedy Center lawyers said the
institution plans to “maintain an operational model” after the
July 5 date when it was initially scheduled to shutter for
renovations. Under that status, the Kennedy Center's public
spaces will still be accessible but the stages may largely be
silent.
“The Court’s order did not affirmatively require the Board to
reschedule programming that had previously been cancelled or to
seek new programming,” the lawyers wrote in the filing.
The Kennedy Center has been forced to reassess its plans after a
May ruling from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper upended
many notable moves imposed by a board dominated by President
Donald Trump's allies. Cooper said Trump's name was illegally
added to the building and ordered it taken down. He blocked the
closure and gave the institution's leadership — along with Rep.
Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who filed the
lawsuit — until Friday to provide a status update.
The venue said its management would present the board with
several renovation options to consider for a vote. The options
would include a complete closure or a partial closure that would
allow “some continued public access and limited programming in
spaces unaffected” by the work. A third option would “consider a
highly limited series of phased closures to address only the
Center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and
maintaining a full slate of programming.”
Kennedy Center lawyers said the recommendations have not been
finalized and a vote would happen in mid-July.
Beatty's lawyers, meanwhile, argued the Kennedy Center hasn't
fully complied with Cooper's order. While Trump's name has been
removed from the building, they took issue with a tarp that was
put in place to cover the areas where the letters had been
installed. There appears to be no immediate effort to remove the
tarp.
They also argued that without making an effort to return to some
form of programming, the Kennedy Center would effectively be
closing the institution despite Cooper's ruling.
“Having gutted staff and programming, Defendants believe they
can sit back and allow their pre-planned shutdown to commence,”
Beatty's lawyers wrote in the filing.
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