Kennedy Center won't be torn down during $200 million renovation, Trump says

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that renovating the Kennedy Center is expected to cost around $200 million and include new heating and air conditioning.

Trump, who announced Sunday that the performing arts venue would close for renovations for two years starting in July, said the project was fully financed, but did not elaborate on the source of the funding.

He added that the project won’t involve demolishing the iconic building on the Potomac River.

“I’m not ripping it out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I’ll be using the steel. So we’re using the structure.”

“We’re using some of the marble, and some of the marble comes down, but when it’s open, it’ll be brand new and really beautiful,” he said. "We’re going to have all brand-new air conditioning, heating."

During Trump's second term, he has set his sights on physically reshaping parts of the nation's capital, including the White House.

After Trump initially said renovation of the East Wing would not "interfere" with the White House structure, that section of the building was demolished in October as part of his planned construction of a ballroom. That project, which has grown in size and cost since it was announced, is now expected to cost $400 million — nearly twice the original estimate.

Trump, who also plans to build a triumphal arch along the Potomac River, has said the ballroom project is being paid for by him and various donors. Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, was included in a list of top donors. It’s unclear how much Comcast and other donors have contributed.

Trump said Monday that he considered leaving the Kennedy Center open during the renovations but ultimately decided against it, saying “you can’t do the same quality job” as when it’s closed.

Trump has taken particular interest in the Kennedy Center since he returned to office. Last year, he replaced the center’s board with a handpicked set of members who made him chair, and changed its programming to exclude Pride events. In December, the board voted to add his name to the center. It was affixed to the facade one day later.

Several artists have canceled their appearances at the Kennedy Center, including "Wicked" musical composer Stephen Schwartz and "Lincoln" composer Philip Glass, amid Trump's takeover of the venue.

The renaming also drew condemnation from Kennedy family members and lawmakers alike. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, sued the administration over the renaming, saying it was unlawful without congressional approval since Congress established the center and its name.

“The Kennedy Center is congressionally funded, and Congress should have been consulted about any decision to shut down its operations or make major renovations, especially for two years,” Beatty said in a statement Sunday after Trump announced the renovation plans.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also criticized Trump’s plans to halt all performances over a two-year period. She said that while Republicans approved funding for renovations, a temporary closure was never discussed.

Murkowski, who is chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for projects like the Kennedy Center renovation, said "as the appropriator for this, I have a right to ask those questions and to get some answers.”

“We’re spending money in in an incredibly aggressive way on some things that if you were to ask Americans to prioritize, they would not put an arch at the top of their list,” said Murkowski, who has clashed with Trump in the past. “They would not put an expansion of a White House ballroom at the top of their list, they would not put the the complete overhaul of the Kennedy Center on their list.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com