Sixers arena plan: Voices heard in support and opposition as public hearings begin
CENTER CITY - Will the Sixers win City Council’s support for its plan to build an 18,500-seat arena on the edge of Chinatown? Council hearings underway at City Hall may offer an answer.
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PROPOSED SIXERS ARENA PLAN TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING
In public hearings by the early afternoon in City Council, not everyone was booing the arena, as the momentum and sentiment turned as the hearing went into the afternoon and early evening.
Those cheering on were the unions and their members who stand to earn good construction salaries building the arena, estimated now to cost $1.3 billion.
"I just want to ask everyone in council to please approve the 76ers arena bill," John Donahue, with IBEW Local 98, stated. "It’s jobs for everyone. It’s going to bring Chinatown back. It’s going to make it even better than it is right now."
And, many members of Philadelphia’s Black clergy also give their blessings to the plan. Pastor Carl said, "It’s time for us to take critical measures to rejuvenate our downtown. If we can invest in downtown, eventually we gonna invest in the beautiful possibilities of North Philadelphia."
And Pastor William James Scott added, "I wholeheartedly support the development of the new Sixers arena and the economic opportunities and initiatives that it’s going to bring to our city."
A public hearing will be held in City Council Wednesday at 10 a.m. and Thursday evening at 6 p.m. More information can be found on the city's website, here.
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PROPOSED SIXERS ARENA PLAN TUESDAY MORNING
Both sides in the arena debate were seen in City Council Tuesday. Opponents waved signs; supporters wore tee shirts, but there was just one message in the morning testimony - scrap the plan. Xu Lin owns a small restaurant in Chinatown. He said, "I don’t think we can survive the arena. The six years of construction alone will kill my business."
In the third day of testimony on the Sixers proposal to build a $1.3 billion arena in Market East on the edge of Chinatown, council members heard from community leaders, business owners and academics all opposed to the plan. Some were nearly begging Council to kill it.
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John Chin leads the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation. He said, "This arena will push Chinatown to the precipice. This is the reason PCDC opposes the arena proposal."
Domenic Vitiello, of the University of Pennsylvania, testified, "This is a bad deal in so many ways. There is a broad conclusion among independent economists that arenas do not add tax revenue and other economic benefits to cities."
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Council members learned as many as150 businesses in Chinatown could be impacted. The $50 million community fund paid for by the Sixers needs to be doubled. And SEPTA testified it can’t pay for expanded transit to 76Place.
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FOX 29 asked the sponsor of the arena legislation, Mark Squilla, if he had heard enough to drop his support. Squilla responded, "No. I’ve been hearing this for the last two and a half years. Our goal was to introduce something we could support."
Mayor Cherelle Parker supports the deal. But at least for most of this day, she had little company.