Fencing goes up around the main Kennedy Center building after Trump-aligned board votes to close it

Fencing has gone up around the main Kennedy Center building, a day after the Trump-aligned board voted to close most of the performing arts center for repairs

WASHINGTON -- Fencing went up Wednesday around the main Kennedy Center building, a day after the Trump-aligned board voted to close most of the performing arts center for repairs. A Democratic congresswoman who is a trustee quickly sought an emergency court hearing to prevent what she called the “unlawful closing.”

The board's vote on Tuesday came after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning President Donald Trump’s name to the building.

The Republican president had said in a social media post that the closure was needed for safety repairs . But he said the repairs, which Congress has allocated $257 million to cover, would only happen if the board was permitted to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.

Activists who have opposed the closure said there has been no vehicle or pedestrian access to the building Wednesday. An Associated Press reporter who approached the main building was told by a security guard that it was closed.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, requested an emergency court hearing Wednesday regarding what she called Trump’s “unlawful closure of the Kennedy Center.” Beatty has led efforts to block Trump’s name from being added to the building, and had a verbal confrontation with Trump Tuesday during a virtual board meeting.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the Kennedy Center to respond to Beatty’s motion by Thursday morning, saying he would schedule a prompt hearing if necessary.

Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on the board, said on social media Tuesday that he’d given $17 million to an endowment intended to support the institution.

Trump, while campaigning for a GOP Senate nominee in North Carolina, said Wednesday that his efforts to restore the aging building deserve recognition, “because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down. It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape.”

A staff member for a legal team representing Beatty was denied entrance to the building on Wednesday, Beatty’s lawyers said in a court filing.