A federal judge has ordered attorneys representing the Kennedy Center to appear for an emergency hearing on Thursday over the facility’s abrupt decision to shut down.
The hearing was sought by Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and a member of the Kennedy Centre’s board, who is challenging the board’s decision to close the performing arts centre.
Beatty has also criticised the Trump administration over the development as the dispute surrounding the facility continues.
Speaking about the condition of the Kennedy Center, President Donald Trump said, “You see steel falling down, you see plaster falling off ceilings. I’d like to be able to save it, but it’s going to take a lot of subsidy into the future. And for us, as an administration, to want to do that, I think the Trump administration should be recognized,”
The latest development came after fencing was erected around the main Kennedy Center building on Wednesday, just a day after the board voted to close the facility.
The emergency hearing is scheduled to take place before federal Judge Christopher Cooper later Thursday, as the court considers the circumstances surrounding the closure.
Beatty’s legal challenge comes amid a wider dispute over the management and future of the Kennedy Center.
Cooper had ruled two days earlier that proposals to add Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center could not move forward “without Congress’s blessing.”
The latest hearing is therefore expected to address the circumstances surrounding the board’s decision to close the performing arts facility and the concerns raised by Beatty.
