Yet musicians are still using the space, with the National Symphony Orchestra rehearsing in the main concert hall for shows that have been kicked to D.C. area venues, The New York Times’ Elizabeth Williamson revealed on Wednesday.

A Kennedy Center spokesperson told the Times in a statement that the main hall “is not a restricted area” for the musicians, adding that they “can rehearse in it safely during the closure.”

Why? He didn’t explain, per Williamson.

Musicians in the orchestra are reportedly entering the iconic performing arts center through a parking garage rather than the tarp-covered main entrance — the same entryway that was tagged with the president’s name late last year.

The Trump rebrand sparked a lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio member of the center’s board since 2019 who has pushed back on attempts to close the center and efforts to put the president’s name on it.

“This is part of a pattern of the government routinely saying one thing and doing another,” Norm Eisen and Kyle Freeny, Beatty’s lawyers, told the Times of the rehearsals in the space.

One longtime symphony patron also weighed in on the rehearsals, telling the Times, “The absurdity of this is mind-blowing.”

A tarp covers portions of the sign at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C, last month.

via Associated Press

The Trump administration has argued before the courts that the center — a “living memorial” to the late John F. Kennedy — “cannot survive” without the help of the current president and, thus, he deserves “prominent recognition” on the building for such efforts.

As such, the administration has threatened to demolish the center if it doesn’t get its way, potentially paving the way for an outdoor amphitheater in its place.

Musicians in the orchestra told the Times they have yet to encounter the issues officials claim to be plaguing the building.

In a letter to D.C. lawmakers last month, a group of former employees at the Kennedy Center alleged that leadership knew about the center’s structural issues but held off on repairs anyway earlier this year.

David Z. Seide, a lawyer representing the whistleblowers, told the Times that the practices in the center “confirm what we’ve been saying all along.”

“The building is not a threat to public health and safety,” he said.