The Kennedy Center plans to furlough 60 percent of its full-time employees, despite recently having $25 million in federal funding allocated to the organization.
The performing arts center had furloughed roughly 725 part-time staffers prior to receiving the allocation.
Starting on April 3, the performing arts center will cut loose nearly 100 musicians in the National Symphony Orchestra, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Free Beacon. In addition, the Kennedy Center laid off roughly 20 administrative workers associated with the orchestra.
Along with receiving the federal funding, the Kennedy Center also has an endowment of about $100 million.
“Everyone should proceed as if their last paycheck will be April 3. We understand this will come [as a] shock to all of you, as it did to us,” an internal Kennedy Center email reads.
The Kennedy Center recently completed a $250 million overhaul and also received $41 million in federal funding in 2019.
While the coronavirus pandemic has forced the Center to shut down on March 12, the performance arts venue plans to reopen on May 10.
Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter has agreed to forgo her $1.2 million salary, although the organization still intends to lay off employees.
"It is imperative that we scale back the entire institution’s personnel costs during this time of closure and dearth of ticket income," Rutter wrote in an email to supporters on Friday. "If no changes are made to our spending patterns, even if we are able to open in mid-May, with the recent $25 million federal stimulus funding, the Kennedy Center would run out of cash as early as July."
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