As the saying goes, history likes to repeat itself. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. broke ground yesterday on the Kennedy Center Expansion Project. The ceremony also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Center's original groundbreaking in 1964. 

The event featured remarks from Vice President Joe Biden, Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein, Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter, Kennedy Center Trustee (and John F. Kennedy's granddaughter) Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, as well as Steven Holl. During the ceremony, Rubenstein used the same gold-plated shovel that President Lyndon B. Johnson used to break ground for the Center on December 2, 1964.

Steven Holl and senior partner Chris McVoy designed the expansion with BNIM Architects. The Expansion Project, which was announced in 2013 and is being paid for entirely by private funds, will be built south of the current facility as an interactive space for artists to engage with the community. The 65,000 sq.ft expansion will also be equipped with rehearsal, education, and various flexible indoor and outdoor spaces. Completion of the project is scheduled for May 29, 2017 — President Kennedy's 100th Birthday.

Below is more info about the project's design from Steven Holl Architects:

"As a 'living memorial' for John F. Kennedy, the Center for the Performing Arts takes an   active position among the great presidential monuments of the Jefferson and Lincoln   memorials. Steven Holl Architects envisions the expansion of the building to fuse with the   landscape and river, instead of being an appendage object.  

Steven Holl 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. Located south of the existing facility, the expansion   will feature interior spaces with soaring ceilings and 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. A restful grove of 35   ginkgo trees will acknowledge President Kennedy’s position as America’s 35th president.   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. The Kennedy Center’s connection to the Potomac River will finally be achieved, more than 50 years after it was lost in Edward Durell Stone’s initial design, 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."

Project details:

John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts Expansion
2013 – 2017
Program: Rehearsal space, classroom space, event and pre-function space, 150-seat multipurpose space, board room, landscape gardens, River Pavilion café and performance space
Project type: Expansion
Structural system: Cast-in-place concrete
Building Area: 65,000 GSF