Kennedy Center to Lock Doors for 2 Years, Cancel 1,200 Shows, Furlough 1,100 Workers

The board of trustees voted unanimously Monday to close the entire Kennedy Center campus for 24 months starting July 6, a move that cancels 1,200 already-scheduled performances and will put 1,100 employees on unpaid furlough. The $257 million overhaul, funded through Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” targets the building’s failing heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and elevator systems. Outgoing president Ric Grenell said the closure “sets the stage for a revitalized national cultural complex,” while the board simultaneously promoted facilities vice president Matt Floca to CEO.

Sen. Mark Warner, an ex officio board member from Virginia, left the White House meeting without casting a vote, claiming the process had “treated the center like a personal vanity project.” U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled Sunday that Rep. Joyce Beatty, another ex officio member, could attend Monday’s session but had no guaranteed vote, leaving both Democratic lawmakers as spectators. Warner said career staff had been fired and trustees removed “to sideline congressional oversight,” while Grenell countered that lawmakers “had the specs for a year and never objected.”

Since Trump replaced the board last year, actor Issa Rae, banjoist Béla Fleck and novelist Louise Penny have withdrawn from scheduled appearances, and National Symphony Orchestra executive director Jean Davidson resigned to run the Wallis Annenberg Center in Los Angeles. Consultants Ben Folds and Renée Fleming also quit, and the Washington Opera ended its exclusive residency. Grenell warned remaining staff to expect “skeletal teams” during the closure; hourly workers will be furloughed without pay, while salaried administrative staff numbers have not been disclosed.

The center will host its last event—an Independence Day celebration—before the shutdown, then reopen under the name “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” a change the board approved without waiting for congressional authorization. Trump has already used the venue to premiere First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary, host the Kennedy Center Honors himself and stage the FIFA World Cup draw. He told reporters Monday the renovation will make the complex “far better than it ever was,” echoing his administration’s wider plans for a 100,000-square-foot White House ballroom and a “Victory Arch” near the Lincoln Memorial.

The $257 million allocation sits inside the $1.8 trillion “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last fall; no private fundraising goal has been announced, though last year’s board hauled in a record $23 million in donations. Construction contracts have not yet been awarded, and the General Services Administration will oversee bids. If historic-preservation approvals stay on schedule, the reopening is penciled in for mid-2028, though the board has not set a hard date or released ticket-sale projections once shows resume.