The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is at the center of a growing fight over its future and its name after its board voted to close the iconic Washington DC facility for renovations.
The board's Sept. 15 vote came as the Kennedy Center faces major financial and physical challenges. The center says it needs extensive renovations, with a $257 million project planned to address deteriorating infrastructure and other problems, including a piece of the ceiling that fell in a main hallway earlier this month.
But the renovation plans are unfolding alongside a legal battle over President Donald Trump's name. A federal judge on Sept. 15 blocked the Kennedy Center board from adding Trump's name to the building, ruling that Congress would
need to approve such a change.
Trump has pushed back against the ruling, saying renovations will not begin until the judge reverses his decision.
The fight over the name is also tied to how the Kennedy Center is structured. The federal government owns the building and grounds, while the Kennedy Center's board runs the institution. Congress created the center, and federal law identifies it as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
The Kennedy Center wasn't always the Kennedy Center. Congress authorized a National Cultural Center in 1958, and construction began after years of fundraising. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Congress renamed the institution in his honor and it opened in 1971.
Trump's return to the White House brought major changes to the facility when he replaced members of the board and became chairman.
The new board later voted to add Trump's name to the center, prompting a legal challenge over whether the board had the authority to make that change without Congress.
So, what's next? The board has voted to immediately close the Kennedy Center for renovations, while the legal fight over Trump's name continues.
The outcome could determine how long the center will be closed, how its renovations proceed and whether the institution's name can be changed without an act of Congress.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What's going on at the Kennedy Center? Its history, ownership and more
