Kennedy Center Honors Moves to New Venue Amid Building Closure

The Kennedy Center Honors program will take place at the Capital One Arena in Washington in December, a spokesperson for the center said, announcing a new location for the awards show while its main building is closed.

The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, led by President Donald Trump, closed the institution for repairs and renovations expected to last two years.

Trump has threatened not to proceed with those changes if his name is not attached to the building and has mused about tearing down the facility built to honor the slain 35th US president.

The annual Kennedy Center Honors is the institution’s flagship event, and the awards are considered among the highest for the fine arts.

The announcement that the event will take place at all — and in a different venue — is a sign that the center intends to maintain some programming during the most tumultuous period it has faced legally and politically in its multi-decade history. The Trump board’s actions are being challenged in court.

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The Kennedy Center said it would announce this year’s slate of honorees at a later date. Trump emceed last year’s Honors show after taking over the institution, installing a board of allies and ousting its former chairman and president.

Artists and audiences largely fled, particularly after the Kennedy Center board voted to put Trump’s name ahead of Kennedy’s on the building and website. A court ruled that it did not have the right to do that and it was taken down, but the board has since sought to etch Trump’s name onto the building in recognition of his role in the planned refurbishment.