The John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close for approximately two years for "Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding," President Trump announced on Sunday.Complete closure of the performing arts center in Washington, D.C., will start on July 4, Mr.
Trump said in a social media post.The decision to fully close the center over a partial construction came after a year of review by experts, the president said."The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result!," Mr.
Trump wrote on Truth Social."This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before."Interim Kennedy Center Director Richard Grenell said on social media the center "desperately needs this renovation and temporarily closing the Center just makes sense," adding that it will be "a brief closure in retrospect."Mr.
Trump and Grenell did not provide specifics on any possible structural problems with the center.The announcement comes as several high-profile performers scheduled to appear at the U.S.
capital's leading performing arts venue announced they were pulling out following Mr.Trump's takeover.
On Thursday, Mr.Trump hosted a premiere of the Melania Trump documentary "Melania" at the Kennedy Center. It was unclear what the renovations would entail and what exactly Mr.
Trump meant by a "Complete Rebuilding." The president last year had the East Wing of the White House demolished to make way for a new ballroom, the future of which is currently the subject of an ongoing lawsuit seeking to halt its construction.Staffers at the Kennedy Center told CBS News they learned of renovation plans on Sunday evening from Mr.Trump's social media post."I don't know what any of it...