Kennedy Center Honors To Move To Capital One Arena Amid Closure Of Arts Complex

The Kennedy Center Honors will move to a new location for the first time in its history, as it will be held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The ceremony will take place at the new venue on Dec. 7, a center spokesperson said. The honorees have yet to be announced, and a broadcast partner will be announced at a later date. Its contract with CBS, which broadcast the event since its origin in 1978, expired last year. The center’s main building, where the honors have been held, is currently closed amid an assessment for safety risks, officials with the complex have told a federal judge. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the board, sued the center earlier this year over its plans to close the complex for two years for a large scale renovation. She also challenged the board decision to add Donald Trump‘s name to the center. Watch on Deadline A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction ruling that only Congress could add another name to the center, and ordering that the president’s name be taken down from its facade and other materials. He later rejected the board’s plans to add Trump’s name to the facade in other ways. The judge also prohibited the center from closing for two years unless the board more fully weighed its impact. The center has said that the recent closure is temporary, with safety risks being assessed on a week-to-week basis following pointing the recent collapse of part of the ceiling.