Former Kennedy Center staff dispute repair timeline

Former employees raise questions

Former Kennedy Center employees accused the performing arts venue’s leadership of stopping planned waterproofing repairs months before its closure. The allegation was presented to Congress in a Thursday letter from David Seide, an attorney representing the former employees as whistleblowers.

Seide included internal documents that he said conflict with the Kennedy Center board’s account of the closure. The board had cited leaks as a reason the venue needed to close immediately, while the former employees contend that leadership had halted work intended to address water intrusion earlier in the year.

The accusation centers on the sequence of decisions: planned waterproofing work was allegedly stopped, and leaks were later cited to support closing the venue. The former employees’ claim raises questions about when leadership became aware of the repair needs and how it handled them before the closure.

Letter puts records before Congress

The internal documents give Congress a record it can compare with the board’s explanation for closing the Kennedy Center. Seide presented the records as evidence that the leaks did not create a new problem requiring an immediate shutdown because repairs had already been planned and then halted.

The letter represents the former employees’ account of the repair timeline. The board’s position is that leaks supported the immediate closure, creating a direct dispute over whether the shutdown followed an unexpected building problem or an earlier decision not to proceed with planned work.

Congress can seek additional records or testimony to examine who stopped the waterproofing project, when that decision was made and how the condition of the building factored into the closure.