Mayor Cherelle Parker to host town hall on proposed Philadelphia 76ers' arena
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker will host a town hall Wednesday night about the Philadelphia 76ers' proposed arena in Center City.
The town hall will be at the Pennsylvania Convention Center from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Parker will be in attendance with other city officials, and consultants who issued a report on the potential impacts of an arena. People can enter the town hall at 13th and Arch streets.
During her time in office, Parker has yet to voice support for the proposed arena, although she said last year that "you can't have a project with that potential as it relates to an economic impact and not hear the voices from people in our city, across our city."
Last week, Parker said at an unrelated event in Northeast Philadelphia that the Sixers belong in the city after New Jersey offered the team a deal to build the new proposed arena, 76 Place, in Camden.
"The place for all Philadelphia teams to be is right here in Philadelphia, and that is a priority for me as mayor of this city," she said last week.
In late August, the city released long-awaited reports on the impact of the Sixers' proposed arena. The reports focused on the community impact, economic impact, transportation impact and the design of the $1.55 billion proposed arena.
According to the reports, the proposed arena could damage Chinatown, which would sit north of 76 Place. The reports found that one in five of Chinatown's businesses would benefit from the arena, while about half would see negative effects.
A decision on the proposed arena, which would sit on Market and Filbert streets and 10th and 11th streets and replace part of Fashion District Philadelphia, is expected in the fall, Councilmember Mark Squilla said in August.
Squilla, whose district includes the proposed arena, site said elected officials will have to weigh the pros and cons.
"Can you mitigate those challenges and can the advantages of an arena in that area outweigh the negative impacts being discussed," Squilla said.
Since the proposed arena was announced in 2022, it has been met with opposition from the Save Chinatown Coalition.
The Save Chinatown Coalition held a rally and march Saturday against the proposed arena in Philadelphia.
"I think an arena would ultimately destroy our community, it would destroy Chinatown," Jenny Zhang, with the Save Chinatown Coalition, said.
But other groups in the city, including IBEW Local Union 98 and the NAACP Philadelphia branch, have both voiced support for 76 Place.
In a statement Wednesday, a spokesman for union IBEW Local 98 said in part, "76 Place will provide 9,100 good paying union construction jobs that will last a decade. It will also create more than 1,000 arena jobs upon its opening."
