WASHINGTON, DC.- The Kennedy Center broke ground on the first major expansion in its history. The ceremonial groundbreaking celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Center’s original groundbreaking in 1964 and included remarks by Vice President Joe Biden, Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein, Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter, Kennedy Center Trustee Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, and architect Steven Holl. Marking this special occasion, David Rubenstein used the same gold-plated shovel used to break ground for the Kennedy Center on December 2, 1964 by President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Initially announced in 2013, the Project will be constructed south of the current facility and offer a place where the community can engage and interact with artists across the full spectrum of the creative process while providing much-needed rehearsal, education, and a variety of flexible indoor and outdoor spaces. As previously announced, the design and construction costs for the expansion project will be paid for entirely with private funds.

Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter led the remarks, stating, “This historic expansion of the Kennedy Center dramatically advances our relationships with visitors, audiences, and artists, fully realizing the mission of the Kennedy Center. That mission, to which we aspire every day, demands that the Kennedy Center be at the center of cultural life in our nation; it expects that we reach as broadly and as deeply as we can to bring the very best of the arts to the citizens of this great country, and it compels us to honor the implicit joy that defines art.”

Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, a Kennedy Center Trustee and granddaughter to President Kennedy, stated during the ceremony, “My grandparents believed that American civilization had come of age, and they transformed the White House into a stage for our nation’s greatest performing artists. They recognized that in order to demonstrate our full commitment to freedom, democracy, and the human spirit, our nation’s capital needed a world-class performing arts center. After my grandfather’s death, my grandmother, and my great aunts and uncles worked tirelessly to build and sustain this Center, and my generation is proud to continue their commitment to excellence.”

Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein, who is contributing $50 million as the Project’s lead gift, stated “I appreciate greatly the work of so many who brought us to a groundbreaking today, and hope that we can complete what we are starting today on May 29, 2017, the 100th birthday of President Kennedy. What we are starting today is not just a new building but a transformation of the Kennedy Center into a performing arts center ready for the artist and patron needs of the 21st century.”

Immediately following the ceremonial groundbreaking, architects Steven Holl and senior partner Chris McVoy made a visual presentation of the Expansion Project in the Kennedy Center Grand Foyer. Footage from the groundbreaking and the architectural overview will be posted soon on the Kennedy Center’s Expansion Project website. A scale model of the Project was displayed in the Grand Foyer during the event and will be installed soon in the Kennedy Center Hall of States.

The expansion is being designed by Steven Holl and senior partner Chris McVoy of Steven Holl Architects of New York in partnership with BNIM Architects of Kansas City. Steven Holl Architects has created an innovative design that preserves the silhouette of the current building and provides rehearsal rooms and classrooms, a lecture hall, multipurpose meeting rooms, and an event space. The expansion will feature interior spaces with soaring ceilings that are filled with natural light.

The open and engaging landscape will provide small and intimate spaces to gather and visit at all times of the day. An exterior wall will be a home for broadcasts and simulcast performances from within the Kennedy Center and elsewhere. An infinity pool will offer a direct sightline to Theodore Roosevelt Island across the Potomac. The varied gardens will provide opportunities for casual performances and events and other flexible locations for enhanced engagement, further positioning the Center as a nexus of arts, learning, and culture in the years ahead.

The Kennedy Center’s physical connection to the Potomac River will be achieved, allowing easy access to and from the Rock Creek Trail and the Georgetown waterfront. The River Pavilion— a new room on the Potomac River—will provide a participatory, interactive space for small-scale performances, intimate concerts, poetry readings, and other experiences which are not easily accommodated within the existing building. It will expand upon and improve the memorialization of President Kennedy and his significant contribution to the arts and American culture. A café will be located on the pavilion’s top floor and will be useable year round.

Construction is expected to be completed in mid-2017.