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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's name is no longer on the Kennedy Center, but no one can see the change because a massive tarp is in the way.More than two days after crews removed Trump's name in the predawn hours, the public still hasn't gotten a daylight glimpse of the Kennedy Center's restored facade with Trump's name scrubbed from it.Construction crews worked behind sections of the large tarp attached to scaffolding as they removed each letter of the president's name at 3:10 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 13. The venue blew past a judge's deadline to ax it from the center's exterior after last-minute bids to retain Trump's name failed in court. The canvas tarp was later repositioned to cover the entire scaffolding, fully blocking views of the sign by the time the sun came up.On Monday, June 15, the curtain remained attached to the scaffolding. In addition, the facility mounted fence barricades to block access to the area near the restored sign that now reads, "THE JOHN F. KENNEDY MEMORIAL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS." Three security officers are manning the secured area.The blue and white tarp ‒ for the time being ‒ has protected Trump from having to contend with the embarrassing image of his name disappearing just six months after it was added to the side of the historic site following his takeover of its board of trustees. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled on May 29 that renaming the Kennedy Center – built to honor President John F. Kennedy following his assassination ‒ after Trump was illegal and required congressional action. The judge ordered the 47th president's name to be removed from all materials, including signs, by June 12.Yet the center says the tarp isn't there to cover up the revised name. A spokesman for the center told USA TODAY that the tarp remains up to enable construction crews to address maintenance needs of the building's marble exterior and soffit panels under the center's overhang.As part of a planned $257 million renovation to the center, the center is replacing more than 2,000-pound soffit, or ceiling panels, around the edges of the building, which it says present a public safety risk. During an April media tour, a Kennedy Center official said water damage from the planters on the roof caused the panels to fail and that the center was tracking seven locations around the building where the ceiling panels were in poor condition. Improper water drainage has also caused the marble on some parts of the building to discolor, according to the center. Both fixes are slated to take place during the first year of a two-year renovation.Although the public hasn't yet been able to view the center without Trump's name on it, the center's leadership told a federal court that it had been removed. Matthew Floca, the center's executive director, submitted a signed statement to Cooper on Saturday, June 13, confirming the center complied with his order.In his statement to the court, Floca blamed "weather-related delays" for the center's failure to meet the judge's midnight deadline on June 12. Crews halted work during scattered thunderstorms in the Washington, DC area, although work crews remained inactive for long stretches when it wasn't raining.Workers began stripping Trump's name from the center after both Cooper and a federal appeals court denied the Trump administration's last-ditch appeals to pause the order.In his May 29 ruling, Cooper also blocked Trump's plan to close the Kennedy Center for two years, arguing the center's board of trustees' March vote to shut the center down was not properly conducted.Contributing: Susan Page and Karissa Waddick
