Sixers

76 Place: Sixers Announce Series of Community Zoom Meetings

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Aug 11th, 2023 · 9:47 AM EDT

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Inbox:

Philadelphia, PA, August 10, 2023 – Today, the team at 76 Place at Market East announced dates for a series of community meetings that will be held throughout August, during which attendees can learn details of the proposed arena project and submit questions and comments. The meetings will provide community members the opportunity to hear about the current proposal, the updating and development of which has been informed by community and stakeholder feedback over the past year.

A detailed schedule of meetings can be found below. All meetings will take place from 6pm-8pm on Zoom, where members of the public can expect to learn details related to design, transportation, economic impact, tax benefits and more. Details of these meetings follow recent announcements about the project, including news that the arena will generate more than $1 billion in additional tax benefits to the city, state and School District of Philadelphia, as well as yesterday’s announcement regarding design and residential housing opportunities. Additional virtual and in-person public meetings will be announced at a later date.

“We have had more than 75 meetings with stakeholders from throughout the city and made several adjustments to our plans based on direct feedback from the community since 76 Place was first announced a year ago. There is more listening to do before 76 Place becomes a reality, and we look forward to making additional updates to our proposal through continued dialogue like these meetings,” said David Gould, 76ers’ chief diversity and impact officer. “When we announced 76 Place last year, it was just an idea. With much more community input and feedback, we are ready to start a broader engagement process to review and consider a more detailed proposal, which we will continue to update through public engagement and, eventually, a legislative process in City Council. We are grateful for all of the partners working with us to ensure this project is done the right way and look forward to sharing details about the arena and its potential impact on our city.”

August Meeting Schedule:

• Tuesday 8/15, 6-8 pm
• Thursday 8/17, 6-8 pm
• Tuesday 8/22, 6-8 pm (Mandarin-language meeting)
• Tuesday 8/29, 6-8 pm (Cantonese-language meeting)
• Thursday 8/31, 6-8 pm

*More details to come regarding in-person meetings.

During each meeting, attendees will hear an overview of the project and have the opportunity to submit questions for members of the 76 Place team to answer during the Q&A portion. The presentation, recordings of all meetings, and written answers to questions asked will be available online after meetings are completed. The presentation content will be identical at all meetings.

Those interested in attending must register in advance at 76place.com. Registration is now open.

I successfully registered for the August 15th Zoom call, so I’ll see you bitches online. You have to click on that link above and RSVP if you’d like to take part.

Note that one of the meetings will be in Mandarin and one will be in Cantonese. They’re two different dialects spoken in different areas of China. Mandarin is spoken in mainland China, Singapore, and Taiwan, while Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong and the southeastern portion of the country.

That’s been one of the challenges, communicating with non-English speakers living in Chinatown, the neighborhood that will abut the arena (if it gets built). You might recall there was a meeting in December that David Gould attended, which featured quite a bit of yelling in multiple languages. The Sixers version of the story is that they were more or less shouted down in a hostile environment, while Chinatown reps tell it this way:

Regardless, here we are now eight months removed from that, so we shall see if tensions have cooled off a bit. Would be nice to see some pragmatism, cordiality, and real, meaningful discussion about this project moving forward.