A section of ceiling fell Friday evening in the Kennedy Center’s grand foyer, leaving debris across a hallway linking its three main auditoriums; the center said no one was injured.
Stormy Washington weather preceded the collapse, which the center’s spokesperson called fresh evidence of decades of deferred maintenance and of the need to close the venue for a Trump-backed two-year, $250 million renovation.
That shutdown plan is still tied up in court after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that Trump’s name was added to the building illegally and blocked the administration from closing the center.
An August board vote now seeks to restore Trump’s name to the facade, while opponents including Keep the KC argue the board will use what appears to be limited damage to justify a broader closure.