As President Trump prepares to shut down the Kennedy Center for renovations, sources told CBS News there has been no discussion of demolishing or gutting the building.
The president told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday he plans to create a “brand new” Kennedy Center using the 55-year-old arts institution’s existing steel and some of its marble, drawing speculation about the extent of the planned two-year renovation project.
Asked by CBS News on Monday if he plans to tear down the building, he said: “I’m not ripping it down. I’ll be using the steel, so we’re using the structure.”
He said his changes will cost about $200 million.
Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News that Mr. Trump has so far not asked for estimates for gutting the building.
The scheduled changes, which will start this summer, include a new roof and replacement of some marble and grout. There will also be necessary renovations to the promenade section of the building that stretches out over the road toward the river, where existing steel will be reused, one of the sources said. One of the two free-standing stages in the grand foyer will likely be removed, and possibly replaced with a bar.
But the building’s basic layout, with the three theaters and the Hall of Nations and the Hall of States, will remain, the sources told CBS News.
In the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said that as a real estate builder, “you want to sit with something for a little while before you decide on what you want to do.” He added: “You know, we sat with it” and discovered “it’s dilapidated” and needs to be fixed.
A White House official said the administration doesn’t need congressional approval to temporarily close the building for renovations.
Congress appropriated about $250 million for building renovations last year.
Mr. Trump announced late Sunday that the Kennedy Center would close for construction for about two years, aiming to address what Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell called “decades of deferred maintenance and repairs.” Mr. Trump argued closing the center “will produce a much faster and higher quality result” than enduring partial closures while the building is renovated.
Since returning to the White House last year, Mr. Trump has sought to put his stamp on D.C.-area landmarks. The real estate developer-turned-president had the White House’s East Wing demolished last fall to make room for a planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom. And he commissioned a triumphal arch across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., saying over the weekend he’d like the arch to be “the biggest one” in the world.
Mr. Trump and his allies have also made sweeping changes to the Kennedy Center. Weeks after his inauguration, the president replaced some members of the center’s board of trustees and made himself chair. Last month, the board voted to change the center’s name to the Trump-Kennedy Center, and Mr. Trump’s name was added to the front of the building, drawing criticism from Democrats who argued the name can’t be changed without an act of Congress.
The center has also faced a series of high-profile cancellations. The Broadway hit “Hamilton” pulled out of planned performances, composer Philip Glass canceled a premiere of his new symphony and several other musical artists called off their shows, in many cases citing either the name change or broader concerns about the center’s political direction.
Grenell has criticized the artists who canceled their appearances, saying they were “booked by the previous far left leadership” and accusing them of politicizing the center.
