Preservationists Sue to Stop KenCen 'Renovation'

On March 23 eight associations representing preservationists and architects filed a law suit in federal district court against the Trump administration to halt the “renovation” of The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The plaintiffs want to require the administration to seek approval from Congress and comply with historic preservation laws before anything is done.

The lawsuit also includes a claim for “anticipatory demolition,” which alleges that by repainting the exterior gold columns of The Kennedy Center white and adding DJT’s name to the facade without approval, the White House has already altered essential elements of the building and triggered a violation that could be used to short circuit the proposed renovation.

“The Kennedy Center is not a personal project of any president. It is a national cultural monument built to honor John F. Kennedy and to serve the American people,” Rebecca Miller, executive director of the DC Preservation League and a party to the suit, told the Washington Post. “Federal law requires transparency, expert review and public participation before it can be fundamentally altered.”

This legal challenge is the latest in a series of suits prompted by Trump’s aggressive efforts to remake the Washington landscape. Ohio’s Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty’s court-approved request to block the venue’s shutdown was ignored by Trump’s loyalist board. Last November Cultural Heritage Partners, also a party to the latest suit, sued to prevent plans to paint the exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a designated National Historic Landmark, white.

Meanwhile Foley Hoag has challenged the ballroom plans, and Lowell & Associates took legal action against the administration for its planned development of the historic East Potomac Golf Links and dumping debris from the East Wing there.

“We’re concerned that, as with the White House East Wing, the potential scope of planned changes is understated and will result in irreparable loss,” Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, another group on the suit, said in a statement.

Other plaintiffs joining the suit include: Docomomo US, a modernism conservation group; the Committee of 100 on the Federal City; the American Institute of Architects; the Society of Architectural Historians; the American Society of Landscape Architects; and the Cultural Landscape Foundation.

The Kennedy Center has been eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places since 2012, and as such is subject to a Section 106 review to assess what historic elements might be at risk during renovation, seek public and expert input, and create safeguards against any identified harms.

With plans to shut the Center down by July 4, time is of the essence. Trump has shown no regard for traditional standards of historic preservation, and is as likely to disregard any court’s ruling to honor it. Absent a strong ruling against his plans, then reaffirmed on appeal, workmen will soon be busy on the banks of the Potomac.

Washington Post