Sixers Arena Gets Prelimanary Approval From City Council
The Sixers caused quite a stir a couple of years back when they first announced their plans to build an arena in Center City. After sharing a building for so long with the Flyers, they wanted their own home, and they wanted it to be in the middle of the city, not in the South Philly Sports complex.
But the plan was not final. They still needed approval from the City to build one in the Market East Area. They got past the first hurdle a few months back when they won the approval of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.
But today, they got past an even more significant one, winning approval from the City Council. Council members convened Thursday morning to vote on giving the Sixers preliminary approval, and the vote passed in favor of the Sixers by a margin of 12 to 4.
Sixers Arena Proposal Passes Despite Loud Opposition
The plan had strong opposition from representatives from Chinatown, which the new arena will be adjacent to, and from many who live in the city concerned about the disruption construction will cause, and that the arena itself will cause. Even during this vote, there was loud opposition from protestors, but in the end, the City Council sided with the Sixers and the Mayor.
A final sticking point was the size of the team’s Community Benefits Agreement, a payout that is intended to help ease the burden of the project on the surrounding Neighborhood. The Sixers Proposed $50 million, but those in opposition countered $100 million, with some asking for up to $300 million. The final agreement has the Sixers paying $60 million.
The Sixers are promising to self-fund the billion-dollar project. However, there are concerns about their plans to rely on Septa. The Arena will be built right over the top of Jefferson Station, which in theory would make it easy to take public transit to the game in the same way people do for the Knicks or Nets.
But the state of Philly Public Transit, and many people’s current unwillingness to use it, has cast doubts on that plan. Septa itself has raised concerns about its current ability to handle that increased traffic, claiming the arena could raise its costs by up to $20 million annually. But whether those concerns are valid or not, the Arena is being built.
It is not completely finalized, hence the word preliminary. There still needs to be a final vote on what is currently scheduled for December 19th. But it passing this vote today all but guarantees 76 Place, as they are currently calling it, will eventually be built.
They plan to open the new arena for the 2031 season when their lease at the Wells Fargo Center will be up. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026.
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A Cup of Coffee: 10 Philadelphia Sixers Players Better Known With Other Teams
Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic has had a nice career between the Magic and Bulls. But he started out as a rookie that Doug Collins refused to give too many minutes to. The next offseason after being drafted, he was part of the now infamous deal for Andrew Bynum. He went on to make two All-Star games. Bynum never played a minute for the Sixers.
Kwame Brown
One of the most famous NBA busts had a cup of coffee with the Sixers. The Warriors sent him to the Bucks as part of the Andrew Bogut trade. The Bucks cut him soon after though. He signed a 2-year deal with the Sixers, but played in only 22 games and was cut before the second season of his contract. He nearly had as many personal fouls (37) as he did points (41) while with the Sixers. It was the last chance in the NBA he ever got.
Glenn Robinson
The Sixers tried so hard to find the second scoring option behind Allen Iverson. One of the guys they tried, was Glenn Robinson. He was very good with the Bucks, usually averaging over 20 points per game. He was not bad with the Sixers, but he was not that same guy. He played just 42 games here and averaged 16 points per game. He was injured for his entire 2nd season here and then got traded.
JaVale McGee
McGee is perhaps best known for his frequent appearances on Shaqtin a Fool. Its gave him a bit of an unfair repuation. Did he make some bone headed plays in his career? Yes. But he was also a 3-time champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist, and a physical presence on defense.
His time with the Sixers was know memorable at all though. The Nuggets shipped him here, along with a first round pick, and the rights to Chukwudiebere Maduabum, as a pure salary dump. He played just 6 games here.
Toni Kucoc
Kucoc won 3 NBA Finals with the Bulls, was 6th Man of The Year in the 1995-1995 season, and won pretty much every award you can as a Basketball player when over in Europe. He was a significant piece of the Bulls second run of 3 straight championships. But he did not get much time with the Sixers.
He was decent in the 1999 -2000 season, averaging 12 points per game. But the next season he was part of the trade that landed the Sixers Dikembe Motumbo. In the end, he played in only 80 total games here, averaging a little over 8 points per game.
Dwight Howard
Obviously we don’t forget he played here. It is too recent. But he will be one of those guys where we look back one day and go “Oh yea, he did play here.”. Howard was probably one of the best backups for Embiid. He only lasted one year here. And like so many backup bigs before him, he disappeared in the playoff.
Chris Webber
Not sure if anyone forgets his time here, so maybe it doesn’t quite fit the brief. But Webber is a superstar, who had a disappointing cup of coffee in Philly. Webber was supposed to come here and finally be the guy to be AI’s Co-Star. It never quite worked out. He was injured for parts of his first season, had a decent first full season here, but then was benched in year 3.
