76ers arena proposal: Legislation introduced to City Council met with loud protests on both sides
CENTER CITY - Opponents and supporters of the Philadelphia 76ers proposed arena in the Market East neighborhood squared off outside and inside City Hall Thursday as a package of bills allowing for the construction were introduced.
While the clerk read aloud, a protest started with a shout and quickly grew to a full-throated protest. Opponents of the Sixers plan to build an 18,000-seat arena in Market East, on the edge of Chinatown, halted Council business for nearly 10 minutes on the day bills allowing for the construction were introduced.
Mark Squilla, the councilmember who represents Chinatown, said, "I think the opposition has really led us, and the concerns we heard, have led us to a point where we get to hear what their concerns are."
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Outside City Hall, supporters of the arena, mostly the building trades in line for construction work, squared off with opponents bellowing their views at each other. Back inside, as the Council President pounded his gavel for silence, the legislation, inches thick as it sat on the clerk’s desk, was introduced.
Squilla said affordable housing and a plan to protect small business are tucked in the legislation, but opposition remains.
Olivia Gong, a member of a group of medical workers opposed to the arena, said, "A stadium in Center City will delay patient care and every minute a patient waits in an ambulance, every minute an EMT watches the clock instead of the street, it is life or death."
Councilmember Squilla said, "I wouldn’t have introduced the legislation if I didn’t think I could vote for it."
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Thanking city leadership, the Sixers wrote they’re "One step closer with a lot of work to do." Likely, the only point of agreement of the day.
Kenyetta Johnson, the President of City Council said, "Although we’re the largest, poorest city in America, we’re addressing the issue of money, making sure Black, brown and women have an opportunity to participate."