When President Donald Trump announced on social media February 1 that the John F. Kennedy Middle for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. would close for two years of “building, revitalization, and full rebuilding,” many observers had been dismayed that the politicization of the middle has gone this far.
Amongst them is famed architect Steven Holl whose agency Steven Holl Architects designed a $250 million expansion of the Kennedy Middle referred to as the REACH that opened lower than seven years in the past.
In an electronic mail to Quick Firm, Holl expresses skepticism concerning the nature of Trump’s plan.
“The REACH Enlargement of the Kennedy Middle, which opened in 2019 beneath the course of Deborah Rutter and David Rubenstein, is a a lot liked and wanted facility for the observe of artists in all cultural actions. We hope they may permit it to stay open if they’re closing the principle constructing. As a dwelling memorial to John F. Kennedy, the Kennedy Middle was the soul of tradition in Washington DC… its manipulation at the moment is absurd,” Holl writes.
Each Rutter, the previous president of the Kennedy Middle, and Rubenstein, its former board chair, had been ousted from the organization in February 2025 by Trump, together with half of the board. His appointed replacements then elected him the new chair. Within the months since, the Kennedy Middle has develop into more and more politicized. Trump had his own name added to the facade of the constructing. In the meantime, an extended line of artists have cancelled planned performances, audiences have shrunk, and notable officials have resigned.
Does the Kennedy Middle want a renovation?
The 2-year closure Trump proposes could be used to repair what he calls a “drained, damaged, and dilapidated” facility.
In a 2025 dinner along with his newly put in board, Trump bemoaned the circumstances of the Kennedy Middle, claiming the earlier board misspent thousands and thousands in funding. “They actually didn’t spend it on wallpaper, carpet or portray,” he mentioned on the time. Shortly after her ouster, Rutter countered these assertions, blaming any perceived shabbiness on an absence of federal assist. “As a result of restricted and decreased funding from the federal authorities, there’s a backlog of upkeep that has been prioritized to reflect the appropriated funding,” she mentioned in a press release to NPR.
Initially opened in 1971, the Kennedy Middle is, like many half-century-old buildings, in want of standard upkeep. And as host to more than 2,200 performances and events per year, it’s a closely used facility. The REACH Enlargement undertaking, and Holl’s design, had been supposed to reduce the burden on the historic constructing by including new rehearsal rooms, schooling areas, and efficiency areas each inside and outdoors of the 72,000-square-foot, multi-pavilion advanced. Pure gentle filters into the efficiency and observe rooms, and the sculptural types of the pavilions flip them into backdrops for out of doors performances and occasions overlooking the Potomac River.
The undertaking was seen as an funding in the way forward for the Kennedy Middle, and a approach to increase the present facility whereas decreasing the toll of its heavy use on the ageing central constructing. “Increasingly, at the moment’s audiences crave connection—with artwork and with one another—whereas artists and humanities organizations want personalized areas that nurture their inventive endeavors. The REACH will fulfill a lot of these wants, all inside a one-of-a-kind design that may be a murals in and of itself,” Rutter said at the time of its opening.
Beneath Trump’s plan, the Kennedy Middle would shut on July 4. No detailed plans have but been introduced, and the White Home didn’t reply to a request for extra data, so the extent of this proposed closure and reconstruction is unclear. Whether or not it might have an effect on Holl’s still-new addition stays to be seen.
