Dear Representative,
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a living memorial to President Kennedy and a monument to American cultural diplomacy.
Its main building is now fenced off and closed to the public. The Justice Department has told a federal court that the building could be "taken down" and replaced with an outdoor amphitheater if the current board's renovation and renaming plans are blocked.
The claim that the building must be destroyed is overstated:
• The Kennedy Center's own spokesperson called the demolition scenario "hypothetical."
• Internal financial documents reviewed by the Washington Post tie the deficit to disputed operating and leadership issues, not to structural failure of the building.
• On September 17, 2026, Judge Christopher Cooper ordered 30 days' notice before any demolition or major physical change.
This is not only a venue. It holds irreplaceable gifts from 36 nations, including:
• Crystal chandeliers from Sweden in the Grand Foyer
• The silk and gold Opera House stage curtain from Japan, woven on a one-of-a-kind loom built for it
• 3,700 tons of Carrara marble from Italy
• The 12,000-crystal Lobmeyr chandelier from Austria and Matisse tapestries from France
These were given to honor a president and to mark friendship with the United States.
One sculpture, "Blue" by Joel Shapiro, has already been removed without prior notice.
I ask you to:
• Publicly oppose demolition of the Kennedy Center's main building.
• Insist the Center comply with the court's 30-day notice order and disclose, in writing, the plan for all 88 foreign gifts before any physical change.
• Affirm that the Center was created by an act of Congress, so its renaming or demolition requires congressional authorization, not a board vote.
• Reject any arrangement that ties the building's survival to personal recognition for any official.
Please protect this memorial and the gifts entrusted to it.
Sincerely,
A Voting Constituent
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