Abandoned plans for 76ers stadium leaves space for Philadelphia revitalization

76ers mascot Franklin waving team flag during pre-game on April 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. | Chris Szagola/AP

Last Year, on December 4th, Tuesday night, community members of West Philadelphia gathered in the Church of Christian Compassion to listen to the city’s Mayor, Cherelle Parker, make the case for the construction of a new basketball arena for the city’s basketball team, the 76ers. Mayor Parker told Philadelphians, “If we are going to be a first-class city, we deserve to have quality amenities in our city on Market Street so that we can access them.” However, weeks later, on the morning of Sunday, January 12, local news outlets confirmed the rumors that the Philadelphia 76ers abandoned their plan to construct a new arena on the edge of Chinatown.

This came after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and Comcast Spectacor President Brian Roberts negotiated a deal with the team’s ownership to stay put in the stadium district of South Philly.

Working Families Party members of City Council, Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke said in a joint statement: “We knew this deal was bad from the beginning. Anybody following this issue closely could see this was a power struggle between billionaires and corporations.” Some city council members feel used by the basketball team. Council Member Jim Harrity stated that he felt “completely bamboozled” and “used as a pawn.”

In a shocking twist, Mayor Cherelle Parker stated in her follow-up press conference that the new deal is a “win, win, win, win” despite campaigning heavily for the abandoned downtown arena plan. Sixers owners Josh Harris and David Adelman and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, who joined the mayor at the podium, have promised to continue working with the city to revitalize the once-thriving Market Street despite the change of plans. They’ve also touted that this deal would include a strong bid to bring a WNBA team to the city. However, Parker very quickly interjected, “I don’t want anyone leaving this room saying the city of Philadelphia has been granted a WNBA team. That is not true and would not be factual.”

Many community leaders and organizations are celebrating this as a win for the working class. Seth Anderson-Oberman, Executive Director of Reclaim Philadelphia, said in a statement, “This win belongs to the people…who united across race, class, and neighborhoods to say: No arena in Chinatown. Fund our future, not billionaires.” The interfaith grassroots organization POWER Interfaith released a statement on Monday, January 13, stating, “The decision makes it that much more apparent that elected officials need to place the interests of constituents over the interest of billionaires and corporations.”

With the arena slated to be built in 2031, the Market East economic corridor is without a plan for revitalization. The area’s Macys’ Department Store, in the iconic Wanamaker building, announced it would close its doors following a decision to cut up to 160 underperforming stores. And while most Philly media has been focused on the loss of an iconic shopping center and the uncertain fate of the famous building itself—which certainly does have cultural value—the sad reality is the closure of this store means more working-class people losing their jobs and the loss of another leisure space in the heart of the city.

But there is also an opportunity. The Sixers and Comcast also promised their 50-50 joint venture is still intending to invest in Market East. “We have a blank canvas,” City Councilmember Curtis Jones said. “We can design it in the image of the Philadelphia that we want it to be.”

That is certainly true, but who will get to design it and in what image it will be designed is a question that has not yet been answered. Working-class Philadelphians must put their stamp on Market East.

To understand the “image” of Market East that the working class would want it to be, it’s necessary to look at the problems Philadelphians are currently facing. The city has suffered from continual budget cuts to the Parks and Rec Department and understaffed public libraries, while after-school extracurriculars and programs in the school system are either lackluster, expensive, or have been completely cut. This likely has contributed to the increase in juvenile gun-related incidences, as bored students search for anything to do, ultimately getting tied up with unsavory crowds.

The Sixers say they intend to hold up their end of the bargain, and they, as Adelman said, stand firm in their commitment to “do something good for” the city. Mayor Parker has pledged to “scratch from scratch” on a new community benefits agreement and has maintained that the city is still committed to revitalizing East Market Street and Chinatown.

What better way to achieve this than the construction of a state-of-the-art community recreation center than the proposed 76 Place?

If this community recreation center is as state of the art as the Sixers would have liked to make 76 Place, then surely it could solve the troubling issues described above. Students could have access to indoor basketball courts, tennis courts, turf fields, pools, and weight-lifting equipment. It could have meeting rooms where training and classes provide working people with valuable skills. A big library where students of all ages could read, study, and do school work would boost its community value. It would most notably provide good-paying city jobs within the AFSCME bargaining unit.

While the mayor and city officials have been caught off guard, they have been quick to point to the historic opportunity now at hand: “Now we have two economic development projects instead of one,” said City Council President Kenyatta Johnson.

Now is the time for the city’s working class to be bold and loudly demand their due from the city. The Mayor and the City Council have spent much political capital only for it to amount to nothing. They are politically vulnerable, as are these corporations who have made bold promises of restoring a vital part of the city’s economy, and, as the saying goes, two is better than one.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Dom Shannon

Dom Shannon is a labor organizer, cultural commentator, public health nurse, and Communist Party leader in Philadelphia.

Callum Wilson

Callum Joseph Wilson is a graduate student from Philadelphia. Having received his Bachelor’s degree in history in 2022 from Arcadia University, he is now enrolled in the School of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University in Shanghai.