Groups in South Philly and Center City oppose a downtown Sixers arena

Five groups representing residents and voters in South Philadelphia and Center City announced their formal opposition to the Sixers proposed downtown arena on Monday. They called on their City Council member, Mark Squilla, to block the $1.55 billion project.

The groups include three Democratic voting wards and two registered community organizations. The First Ward, Second Ward, and Ward 39A in South Philadelphia were joined by the Franklin Bridge North Neighbors and by Center City Organized for Responsible Development, a group that says it values affordable housing, decent wages, and community leadership.

“There was a concern that the arena was going to be green-lit without any community involvement,” said Maureen Brown, a leader of Ward 39A. “This is a direct community voice.”

Squilla, who represents City Council’s First District, said of the groups’ announcement: “Any time people want to offer their input on this proposal, … we take that into consideration. We take their input very seriously.”

The Sixers want to shed their tenant status in South Philadelphia and build their own arena four blocks east of City Hall. It would sit on the footprint from 10th to 11th and Market to Filbert Streets, claiming one-third of the Fashion District mall and the now empty Greyhound bus station. The northern end of the arena would abut Chinatown at Cuthbert Street.

Community endorsement will be key in determining whether Squilla ultimately supports the project. The opposition of Chinatown alone may not be sufficient to stop the arena, he has said, if other stakeholders and neighborhood groups near the site support it.

On Monday, he reiterated that the voices of those who are physically closest to the 10th and Market Street footprint will carry the most weight.

The groups that came out against the project on Monday cited several reasons for opposition:

As the Council member whose district includes the site, Squilla holds the power to stop the project or move it through the approval process. In Philadelphia, the tradition of “councilmanic prerogative” gives the 10 members who represent geographic areas the ultimate say on land-use decisions in their districts.

Squilla has said he wants to involve all his Council colleagues in the decision-making, given the project’s citywide impact.

Nicole Gainer, a spokesperson for Sixers on arena matters, said that some of groups that opposed the project Monday are miles from the proposed arena site. Last week, she noted, Squilla appointed the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. to participate in the public discussion of the arena as part of the city’s Civic Design Review.

“The 76ers have always said that we would not only participate in, but welcome, a public process, and we are thankful to Councilman Squilla and the administration for moving this forward in a way that promotes accountability,” she said. “We look forward to working with the appointed RCO [registered community organization] to carry out that process.”

She also provided a statement from Anton Moore, a leader of the 48th Ward, also in South Philadelphia but not part of Squilla’s district, who expressed support for an arena.

“The 76ers proposal has the potential to revitalize Market East and create small business and job opportunities for communities of color across the city,” Moore said. “I urge all elected officials to consider the merits of the project and support this historic investment in our city.”

In a subsequent interview, Moore said that friends who work near East Market Street have seen their hours cut because of a lack of customers, which shows how the area needs the financial boost an arena could provide.

“You have to breathe some life into that area,” he said. “No one is coming down there.”

The opposition in Squilla’s district comes as all involved await the completion of two city-sponsored studies, to examine the economic and community impact of the project. The studies are expected to land before the end of the year. In January, a new City Council, Council president, and mayor will be seated.

The Sixers say a downtown arena will generate jobs and tax revenue while helping a stretch of Market Street that needs revitalization. Opponents, including those who came forward Monday, question those claims, fearing the effect of traffic, crowds, and gentrification.

Brown said in an interview that in her ward, concerns about the Sixers leaving South Philadelphia became apparent when local leaders knocked on doors during a spring voter-education effort. Neighbors asked where candidates stood on the arena, she said, and that led to ongoing conversations in which ward members worked to educate themselves about the project.

“We believe that the proposed arena is incompatible with the neighborhood, including Chinatown, Market East, and Center City,” Clark Dingman, president of Center City Organized for Responsible Development, said in a statement. “We unanimously feel that this project would have a negative impact on businesses and residents in Center City.”

First Ward leader Kathleen Melville said people in South Philadelphia love having the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center, for the sense of place and for the jobs.

“Our city doesn’t need another arena that will sit empty most days of the year, when there are plenty of big projects that need to get done,” she said in a statement. “We should put people to work on new schools or new housing, but one thing we don’t need is another arena.”

Melville is a staffer to Councilmember Kendra Brooks, an at-large Council member in the Working Families Party, who does not support the arena proposal.

City Council has put off consideration of legislation to approve the project until at least January. Presumptive Mayor Cherelle Parker has called the arena an economic-development opportunity that Philadelphia can’t ignore.

She was ushered to the Democratic nomination with heavy backing from organized labor. Unions have endorsed the project, and last week so did the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, which has long been a voice for the African American community.

Philadelphia is divided into 66 wards, each of which usually has about 10 to 50 divisions, and each division having between 100 and 1,200 registered voters. The division where people live determines where they vote on Election Day. The system is an old and opaque part of Philadelphia politics but influential in city elections, according to the Committee of Seventy, the nonpartisan good-government group.

The Franklin Bridge North Neighbors, a registered community organization in Old City, in September sent a letter to Squilla that outlined the group’s views.

“Our members are quite concerned about the effects on the Chinatown neighborhood,” group president Robert Gurmankin said in a statement, “especially during what will be years of construction with multiple street closures. … The neighbors of Franklin Bridge North oppose it.”

Staff writers Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.