\u201cIf the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,\u201d Trump said, adding that $17 million \u201craised by President Trump, has been put into The Kennedy Center account to keep it afloat,\u201d in the meantime.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s statement comes as critics, including Beatty, have argued Trump and the board are holding the performing arts center hostage by shutting it down until the litigation is resolved in his favor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law is extremely clear: The John F. Kennedy Center is named for President Kennedy \u2014 and no one else,\u201d Beatty said in a statement celebrating Cooper\u2019s Tuesday ruling. \u201cBut President Trump is holding the Kennedy Center hostage unless he can put his name on this sacred memorial. The Court just rejected this proposal for the second time. This unlawfulness is as breathtaking as it is wrong, and it needs to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The board deemed the main building \u201cunsafe for continued occupancy,\u201d according to the text of a draft resolution written by the panel. Officials \u201canticipate further risk to the public and employees if the building is not immediately closed and renovations begun,\u201d the document said, citing a review of the center conducted by Delta Consulting Group, a firm hired by the board to review its renovation plans. <\/p>\n
The document noted damage to the plaster ceiling above the building\u2019s Grand Foyer sustained during a severe Sept. 4 thunderstorm that has since caused leaks and the release of \u201cdebris from a height of approximately 60 feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Board, being duly advised, believes that the risk associated with exposing patrons and employees to a hazardous building greatly outweighs any reputational risk associated with closing the main building,\u201d the document said. <\/p>\n
But Beatty, who has been at the forefront of the legal challenge to Trump\u2019s bid to rename the memorial after himself, railed against that logic in court on Tuesday. The Ohio congresswoman had filed the board\u2019s two draft resolutions to Judge Cooper ahead of the hearing and notified the court of the board\u2019s voting plans.<\/p>\n
The resolutions directly \u201cimplicate\u201d her motion for emergency relief and the scope of discovery in the ongoing litigation, Beatty said in the court filing. In Tuesday\u2019s hearing, Beatty argued that the court\u2019s move to close the center unlawfully usurped Congress\u2019 authority.<\/p>\n
The board had been seeking to ratify a previous vote that approved closing the building for two years of renovations after the July 4 holiday. But that decision was temporarily blocked by Cooper, who at the time ruled that the board failed to fully consider the president\u2019s closure plan before approving it.<\/p>\n
The board warned that the performing arts center, which has seen ticket sales plummet amid Trump\u2019s overhaul of its leadership, operations and name, is \u201con the brink of bankruptcy,\u201d according to the second draft resolution. It suggested that the only way to save the center from the financial cliff is by etching Trump\u2019s name into its marble facade, thus ensuring that the president would be motivated to help with fundraising efforts. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d reads the draft resolution. <\/p>\n
Cooper\u2019s decision Tuesday will make it harder for the board to move forward with what it called \u201cappropriate recognition\u201d of Trump on the landmark. <\/p>\n
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