Kennedy Center to shut down for 2 years starting this summer

The Kennedy Center will close for two years beginning this summer after an Independence Day celebration, the performing arts center announced Monday.

The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, appointed by President Donald Trump, voted unanimously to temporarily close for a revitalization project, the center said in a press release.

The board also selected Matt Floca — who had been the center’s vice president of operations — to step in as the chief operating officer and executive director.

The change in leadership follows Friday’s news that Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who served as interim president of the Kennedy Center for the past year, would be vacating his role. Grenell praised Trump’s plans for the future of the Kennedy Center in a statement included in the press release.

Last year, the president took over the Kennedy Center, replacing its leadership with a handpicked board. That board voted to rename it the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, though scholars and lawmakers say the board lacks authority to change the organization’s name.

The takeover sparked boycotts from theater lovers who once came for national theater tours, major concerts, the Washington National Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Since then, the WNO has exited the center, turning to other venues in Maryland, Washington and Virginia. The NSO last week lost its executive director to a performing arts center in Los Angeles. And a slew of big-name performers have backed out of scheduled performance dates.

Some locals have taken the opportunity to support theaters closer to home.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has seen a spike in ticket sales at North Bethesda’s Strathmore venue. The Olney Theatre Center has received tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

Round House Executive Director Ed Zakreski said in January that patrons “have shared their personal perspectives about recent developments at the Kennedy Center, and many have expressed a broader commitment to supporting nonprofit arts organizations in today’s world.”