Fencing added to Kennedy Center after Trump-appointed board votes to close

Fencing surrounds the front entrance of the Kennedy Center on Wednesday , a day after President Trump’s hand-picked board voted to close the facility for renovations amid ongoing fights over adding his name to the facility.

The fencing blocked off the main entrance to the performing arts center, based on a photo taken by an Associated Press photographer. A security guard also told an AP reporter who approached the main building that the center was closed, the outlet reported Wednesday .

The facility, named for former President Kennedy, has been at the center of Trump’s efforts to add his name or likeness to monuments and initiatives during his second term. The center’s board members voted Tuesday to shut down the center for renovations.

The board members, whom Trump appointed last year, also voted last month to add Trump’s name to the facility, in the form of two inscriptions reading: “renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump” and “endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

But U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper barred the center from doing so on Tuesday, ruling the board cannot make the change without congressional authorization. The legislative branch authorized the creation of the center under the National Cultural Center Act of 1958 .

Cooper, an appointee of former President Obama, had previously ordered the center to remove the president’s name from the facade at the main entrance. Construction crews did so in June, removing Trump’s name while putting up a covering over the center’s name that is still there.

Trump and board members said Tuesday the center was shutting down for necessary renovations , with the president citing “Safety reasons” for the closure. But Trump also said the renovation cannot go forward unless Cooper approves the name change.

Board members have argued only the president can raise enough money for the center, which received $250 million from Congress last year. Trump also said Tuesday he had raised $17 million for the Kennedy Center’s account to “keep it afloat.”