The Republican president said the work would cost about $200 million, including installation of the \u201chighest-grade marble, the highest-grade everything.\u201d<\/b>
\nPresident Donald Trump said Monday that he won\u2019t tear down the Kennedy Center but said it needs to be closed for about two years for work that cannot be done with patrons coming and going for shows and other performances.
Trump\u2019s comments, though, suggested that the interior of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will be gutted as part of the process.
\u201cI\u2019m not ripping it down,\u201d the Republican president told reporters following an unrelated announcement in the Oval Office. \u201cI\u2019ll be using the steel. So we\u2019re using the structure.\u201d
Such a project would mark Trump\u2019s latest effort to put his stamp on a cultural institution that Congress designated as a living memorial to President Kennedy, a Democrat, in addition to attempting to leave his mark on Washington through other projects, the most prominent of which is adding a ballroom to the White House.
Trump announced Sunday on social media that he intends to close the performing arts venue on July 4 for about two years, subject to approval by a board led by many of his allies. Trump is also the board\u2019s chairman.
The announcement followed a wave of cancellations by leading performers, musicians and groups since the president ousted the previous leadership and his name was added to the building.
Recalling his past career in construction and real estate, Trump said, \u201cyou want to sit with something for a little while before you decide on what you want to do.\u201d
Speaking of the Kennedy Center, he said: \u201cWe sat with it. We ran it. It\u2019s in very bad shape,\u201d asserting that the building is \u201crun down,\u201d \u201cdilapidated\u201d and \u201csort of dangerous.\u201d
\u201cYou can\u2019t do any work because people are coming in and out.\u201d
He pegged the cost at about $200 million, including the use of \u201cthe highest-grade marbles, the highest-grade everything.\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019re fully financed and so we\u2019re going to close it and we\u2019re going to make it unbelievable, far better than it ever was, and we\u2019ll be able to do it properly,\u201d Trump said.
He had said last October, also on social media, that the venue would remain open during construction. But on Monday he said that plan was not feasible.
\u201cI was thinking maybe there\u2019s a way of doing it simultaneously but there really isn\u2019t, and we\u2019re going to have something that when it opens it\u2019s going to be brand new, beautiful,\u201d Trump said.
\u201cThe steel will all be checked out because it\u2019ll be fully exposed,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been up for a long time, but as anybody knows it was in very bad shape. Wasn\u2019t kept well, before I got there,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to make it, I think there won\u2019t be anything like it in the country.\u201d
Trump promised brand new heating and air conditioning systems as part of his latest construction projects. Since he returned to the presidency, the Kennedy Center is one of many Washington landmarks that he has sought to overhaul in his second term.
He demolished the East Wing of the White House and launched a massive $400 million ballroom project, is actively pursuing building a triumphal arch on the other side the Arlington Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial, and has plans for Washington Dulles International Airport.<\/p>\n