Destruction of the Kennedy Center is the kind of obvious good idea people oppose only because of Donald Trump's involvement. It is one of the most hideous and Soviet structures in the city, a building of ghastly, inhuman proportions and a place with astoundingly little significance to the country's cultural life. Have any major productions originated there? Can you think of a single important live recording that's been made in that building that's not a Kennedy Center Honors ceremony? It is not "America's mainstage;" this country has yet to devolve into a backwater where the national capitol and the cultural capital are oh so conveniently in the same place The National Symphony Orchestra is wonderful, but it's maybe the 4th-6th best in America and has numerous other potential venues in the DC area (Constitution Hall, Strathmore etc). Same goes for the Washington National Opera, which had a brief period of global relevance 20 years ago and has since been an institution in long decline. The Kennedy Center's core tenants can survive without the giant kleenex box...