Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to give 30-day notice before any demolition or major changes to the main building can begin. The order came on Sept. 17, after Donald Trump said the center could “end up being ripped down” and after Justice Department attorneys described the closure as temporary.
Joyce Beatty, a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio who serves on the board, is suing Trump and seeking court intervention to block the Kennedy Center board’s vote this week to close the center for renovations. Her lawyers asked Cooper to clarify that his May order also bars demolition of the structure.
Christopher Cooper and May
Cooper’s new order requires the Kennedy Center to give plaintiffs 30 days before any demolition or other major changes to the main building begin. He also said a proposed inscription reading “renovated and restored by Donald J. Trump” cannot move forward.
In May, Cooper ordered Trump’s name removed from the center’s title and signage. He said the later inscription would violate that order and the 1964 law that created the center to honor President Kennedy after his assassination.
Joyce Beatty in Ohio
Beatty’s filing argues that closure is “both a prelude to and the necessary consequence of demolition.” Her attorneys also wrote, “But out of anabundance of caution, Plaintiff also respectfully requests the Court to make crystal clear that its order prohibits demolishing the structure.”
The order gives Beatty and the other plaintiffs a window to ask Cooper to review any demolition step before work can begin. That shifts the dispute from a broad argument over renovations to a specific court-controlled timeline for the main building.
Donald Trump and WASHINGTON
On Sept. 16, Trump told reporters the Kennedy Center would “end up being ripped down” because of its dilapidated state. He was also pictured on Air Force One reading a poster that said “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.”
Trump has said he would help pay for significant renovations, but he also said he would not pursue renovations unless a separate decision keeping his name off the building is overturned on appeal. Justice Department attorneys, in the Sept. 17 filing, said the closure is temporary to address emergency repairs.
For now, any move beyond closure runs through Cooper’s order. If the Kennedy Center wants to advance demolition or major structural changes, it must first give 30 days’ notice and then face the judge’s review.
