Extensive water damage, steel rusting to the point it feels like “tissue paper,” and industrial chillers over three decades old.As the Kennedy Center readies for this massive undertaking, it has hosted congressional leaders and project donors for tours of the campus to show the extent of the structural damage that has taken place. The signs of the ground’s foundational neglect mainly occur in the underground spaces beneath the well-traveled patron areas.
The underground tours have left donors and congressmen with “surprise across the board,” as they ask questions such as “How did we get to this point?” said Matt Floca, the executive director and chief operating officer of the Kennedy Center.
The Washington Examiner went on one of these same underground tours on Wednesday for an inside look at the structural damage that led to President Donald Trump‘s decision to close the building for two years. Here is what to know about the damage and how the performing arts center came to the decision to close.
TRUMP SAYS $200 MILLION KENNEDY CENTER ‘MAINTENANCE’ WON’T MEAN ‘RIPPING IT DOWN’
What is some of the structural damage at the Kennedy Center?
