'Billionaire Vanity Project': Opponents Turn Out In Force To Slam 76ers Arena Proposal At First Evening Hearing
Opponents of the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposed Center City arena dominated Philadelphia City Council's first evening hearing on the matter Thursday night, vastly outnumbering just three supporters that publicly favor the project.
Activists who testified against the project received rousing rounds of applause from their allies in the audience. The handful who testified in support got nothing more than a few muted claps.
“The fact that this billionaire vanity project is being shoved down our throats by Democrats while our schools suffer is a punch in the gut,” said Ann Dixon, one of several dozen people who spoke out against the $1.3B development.
Gentrification in Chinatown, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority’s looming budget deficit and the impact of gridlock on ambulances traveling to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital were top of mind for opponents, many of whom sported “No Arena” shirts for the occasion.
Thursday’s meeting was the first of two night hearings aimed at giving residents a public platform to share their views about the proposal. The next is at 6 p.m. on Dec. 2. The council has scheduled a full slate of public meetings ahead of a vote that was once set for December but might be delayed until next year.
“Growing up, Chinatown was the one place in the entire Philadelphia region where my first-generation immigrant parents felt comfortable,” resident Jenny Chen told council members. “This proposed arena is an existential threat to Chinatown.”
Sam Sam, the owner of Little Saigon Cafe on North 10th Street, agreed. He has lived in Chinatown since age 10, when he and his family fled the Vietnam War. Sam said he is worried the community wouldn’t survive the years of construction the arena would bring to Center City.
“Chinatown can never be replaced,” he said.
William King, a pediatrician working in West Philadelphia, was concerned about auto traffic.
“This is simply a bad idea, and there’s one reason — gridlock,” he said. “You can’t fix the gridlock.”
The intense car traffic the arena might bring could turn a five-minute ambulance ride into a 25-minute trek, King said.
The Sixers aim to have 40% of event attendees take public transit, but several speakers brought up SEPTA's looming budget deficit.
Disruptions at Jefferson Station would cost the agency between $30M and $50M over six years of construction, SEPTA Interim Director Scott Sauer said on Tuesday. The agency would then need an additional $20M to $25M per year to provide the extra rail service that the arena, dubbed 76 Place, is projected to require. None of those expenses are accounted for in SEPTA’s current financial plans.
The shallow ranks of arena supporters included Kareem Boyd, a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees who came following a day of work at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Like the convention center, Boyd said the proposed arena is expected to bring millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Philadelphia. Trade unions are already recruiting workers for the project, he added.
“When addressing the valid concerns of this community, I urge council to focus on the potential positive impact instead of fears of the unknown,” Boyd said.
An arena in Center City would be more accessible than the South Philadelphia Sports Complex for suburban visitors like Ken Avalon, who also testified in support of the project.
It would take him an hour to travel by train to the Sixers’ current home at the Wells Fargo Center, while his trip to the proposed 76 Place site is just 25 minutes.
“Something like this is a real draw for people from outside of the city,” Avalon said. “We love spending our money in town.”
