A group of cultural and historic preservation organizations told a federal judge they want the Kennedy Center’s renovation plans paused before major construction begins, arguing the changes raise concerns under historic preservation rules. The groups pressed U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper during a hearing Wednesday for a preliminary injunction that would halt any construction ahead of a July 6 start date, saying President Donald Trump and the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees could move forward without the approvals preservation rules call for.
Justice Department attorneys representing the president and the board urged the judge not to intervene. They argued in court that the renovation plans are limited in scope and remain within the authority of the board, according to the description of the arguments presented at the hearing. For the preservation groups, the core issue was timing and process: they asked for the judge to require a pause so that the legal requirements governing changes to historic properties could be assessed before work begins.
Attorney Greg Werkheiser, representing the cultural and preservation organizations, said the laws governing the process “go to the very fundamental question of: Do we slow down and take stock before we make changes to properties that define the American experience?” Werkheiser made the comment in an interview after the hearing.
Cooper’s session came amid ongoing scrutiny of the Kennedy Center after Trump returned to office last year. The president took particular interest in the venue, and the article said he ousted the previous leadership and replaced it with a board he described as handpicked, changes that prompted complaints from many artists and worsened the organization’s financial challenges. Trump’s name was later added to the building’s facade, and the article said he announced the renovations earlier this year.
The case also draws on the building’s status in Washington and its connection to President John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy Center is described as a “living monument” to Kennedy, who raised millions to build the center but was assassinated before it opened. Perched on the Potomac River, the center’s massive structure and white marble facade are described as a prominent feature of the Washington landscape.
The hearing was the second in as many days over the Kennedy Center’s renovation plans, and Cooper was also handling a separate lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio. Beatty sued to stop the renovations as an ex officio member of the board, and the article said Cooper is overseeing that challenge as well. The article described Cooper’s scrutiny of both sides as making it difficult to read how he might rule.
During testimony, Kennedy Center executive director Matt Floca said the renovations planned are intended to repair decades of wear and tear, including extensive water damage to a portion of the building nicknamed “the swamp.” Floca said, “The most efficient and effective way to complete the magnitude of projects we need to complete is to close the center.”
Preservation attorneys questioned whether the project’s scope truly is limited, pointing to Trump’s statements that he would “fully expose” the Kennedy Center’s steel skeleton. Yaakov Roth, a Justice Department attorney representing the president, disputed the preservation groups’ fears, saying in court, “There’s no risk that there will be unilateral changes … that we’ll wake up and the building will be gone.”
The Kennedy Center litigation is part of a broader pattern of legal and preservation fights involving Trump’s influence over prominent Washington sites. The article said that since he took office last year, Trump has angered preservationists by paving over the White House Rose Garden, and that in October the White House tore down its East Wing to make room for a $400 million ballroom. The article also said Trump has added his name to the United States Institute of Peace and wants to move forward with plans for a 250-foot “triumphal arch.”