前雇员称约翰·F·肯尼迪表演艺术中心推迟了基础设施的维修工作在致国会的一封信中，前雇员表示，该中心的管理层早在几个月前就取消了维修计划；而如今这些管理层却声称这些漏水问题构成了严重的安全隐患，因此必须关闭该建筑。
Kennedy Center Shelved Repairs Now Cited for Closure, Whistle-Blowers Say In a letter to Congress, former employees say the center delayed a plan to address the leaks that its officials now cite as a serious safety risk. Former employees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts say that center officials canceled a plan to start overhauling its leaking infrastructure months ago, despite those officials now asserting the leaks posed an urgent safety risk requiring the building to close.
随着对特朗普总统执政期间该艺术机构管理情况的关注日益加剧，前雇员的律师于周四向国会提交了内部文件及一封详细说明他们担忧的信件。
On Thursday, a lawyer for the former employees sent internal documents and a letter that detailed their concerns to Congress amid mounting scrutiny of President Trump’s reign over the Washington arts institution.
由于建筑结构持续恶化（这一问题在前任管理层期间从未得到妥善处理），该中心的主楼至今仍处于关闭状态。然而，在通过律师寄给国会的信中，前雇员指出这些问题被夸大了——因为如果有机会的话，该中心在过去一年里本可以及时采取措施解决问题。
The center’s main building remains closed because of what officials have characterized as escalating structural deterioration that was never properly addressed by former leadership. But in the letter to Congress sent via a lawyer, the former employees say it’s clear the problems have been exaggerated because, given the chance, the center deferred responding to them over the past year.
周五，该中心在一份声明中反驳了这些举报者的观点，称最近对漏水问题的重新评估揭示了比之前更为严重的情况。
In a statement on Friday, the center disputed the whistle-blowers’ assessment, saying that in recent months, new reviews of the leaks had revealed more pronounced problems than officials had previously known.
“我们的观众、艺术家和工作人员的安全是第一位的，”该中心执行主任马特·弗洛卡在声明中说。“肯尼迪中心多年来一直知道屋顶挑檐漏水。我们直到今年夏天才知道内部损坏蔓延的范围有多大。”数月来，特朗普一直主张将该中心关闭两年进行翻修，称其破旧且危险，并使用国会拨款的2.57亿美元。迄今为止，关闭计划已被联邦法院阻止。但上周，官员们宣布，该中心将暂时关闭，以应对主楼内“对公共安全的严重风险”，同时一个较小的附属建筑将继续开放，用于有限的演出活动。
“The safety of our patrons, artists, and staff comes first,” Matt Floca, the center’s executive director, said in the statement. “The Kennedy Center has known for years that the roof overhang leaked. What we did not know until this summer was how far the damage had spread inside it.” For months, Mr. Trump has been championing a two-year closure of the center, which he has called dilapidated and dangerous, to renovate it with $257 million allotted by Congress. The closure has so far been blocked by a federal court. But last week, officials announced that the center would be shutting down temporarily to address “acute risks to public safety” in the main building, while a smaller annex is kept open for limited programming.