Kennedy Center Warns of Bankruptcy and Possible Closure as Early as September 15 Board Meeting, Trump-Appointed Leaders Say Only President's Name on Building Can Secure Rescue

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is on the brink of bankruptcy and might be forced to close as soon as Tuesday September 15, according to a 57-page document reviewed by the Washington Post and confirmed by NPR. Leaders at the center, who were largely appointed by President Donald Trump, have argued that the only way to avoid certain fiscal collapse is by putting the President's name on the building's facade to ensure his fundraising efforts, according to the Washington Post report published September 13. The document was issued ahead of a board meeting scheduled for Tuesday September 15, the same day as a status hearing set by Judge Christopher Cooper overseeing the federal lawsuit brought by Representative Joyce Beatty to stop the renaming of the center to honor Trump last December. In two board resolutions made public Monday September 14, the board calls the center unsafe for continued occupancy and states that the Kennedy Center is in such a precarious fiscal position that it will not be able to support its payroll obligations nor routine maintenance contracts within a matter of weeks. Representative Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, claims that construction consultants brought in by the board have never said any such thing about the building being unsafe. Most of the Kennedy Center board was handpicked by the president, who now serves as its chairman, and most of the center's staff have either been fired or departed, with those who remain largely loyal to President Trump. On September 5, the center's administration said that a portion of the ceiling in the main building's grand foyer collapsed due to rain damage. Attorney Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, is suing to stop the renaming and questions the timing and claims in the bankruptcy warning.