Vice President Joe Biden presided over a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday for the first major expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, nearly 50 years after construction began on the cultural center.
The expansion will add new space for arts education, programs and rehearsals, as well as interaction between artists and audience members.
The project will also add some new memorial elements in a park to honor the 35th president. The arts center was created as a living memorial to Kennedy.
President Lyndon B. Johnson originally broke ground for the Kennedy Center in December 1964. It opened to the public in 1971.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
