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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts stopped its decades-old free public tours, but it backtracked hours later to specify the pause would only last a few days, according to reports.
Brooks Boeke, the director of the volunteer program, told volunteers Thursday the center would place a “temporary pause” on the public tours program effective Friday, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times.
Two hours later, Boeke sent a follow-up email, reviewed by The Washington Post, for “further clarification,” specifying the pause “should only be for a few days as we hope to have you back in action soon.”
The memo was circulated to the full volunteer corps, but only tour guides were instructed not to report for duty “until further notice.”
The Hill has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.
The initial memo viewed by the Times did not provide a reason for halting the staple program, which, aside from a one-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, has operated continuously since the cultural institution opened in 1971.
Shortly before the tours were stopped, the Times on Monday published an article on the Trump administration’s gutting of the center, in which longtime volunteer tour guide Sandy Weiswasser, 87, was quoted describing the center as far quieter than in previous years.
“This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” said Weiswasser, who has been a tour guide at the center for 18 years. “Now it’s a black hole.”
Three volunteers reportedly voiced their concerns to a Times reporter that the center would retaliate by going after the tour program.
The Times reached Boeke by phone for comment, and she reportedly asked, “How did you find out?” before declining to comment further.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the move is part of a review of the visitor experience.
“We are conducting a review of campuswide tour routes to ensure they provide the best possible experience for our visitors,” spokesperson P.J. Elliott said in a statement to the Times.
President Trump last year replaced the center’s leadership, ending the terms of multiple members of the board and naming himself as the chair of the Kennedy Center.
“I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” he wrote on Truth Social at the time. “We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”
The new board later confirmed Trump’s election as its board chair and installed former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as interim president. He was later replaced by the center’s current chief operating officer and executive director, Matt Floca.
The Kennedy Center’s volunteer tour program has been a staple for more than five decades and had once featured 140 guides who offered tours in 10 languages to as many as 400,000 visitors per year.
Volunteer participation has since dwindled, with the Times reporting that Weiswasser saw only five out of more than a dozen guides show up on her Monday shift last week.
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