Discussions about the The Philadelphia 76ers’ proposed Center City arena was pursued in the City Council The topic of free transit tickets was brought up on Tuesday.
Councilman Mark Squilla said the team has verbally agreed to provide a transit pass with every ticket for the first year. But with the Sixers want to see 40% of the people to take SEPTA and PATCO for games and events, Squilla is trying to get them to do that until that 40% limit is reached.
The Sixers said the proposal for free transit passes on SEPTA and PATCO will now only apply to first-year season ticket holders. That doesn’t take into account who will pay the extra $20 million per year. SEPTA says it must provide additional service to the arena.
“If we find that out every year, even if we’re at 39%, then you have to issue passes for a completely different year,” Squilla said. “This way it holds us accountable as a city and it holds the people in the arena accountable for what plan we have in place.”
Also on Tuesday, on Day 5 of hearings, council members were scheduled to take action on two pieces of legislation related to the arena. But Squilla said both bills are meaningless unless the bill itself is passed.
The the first piece was about removing a tax program for the location of the arena currently assigned to the Fashion District. The second bill would create a dedicated arena services district from Broad to 8th Street and from Spring Garden to South Street.
This district’s seven-member board would be responsible for resolving any issues that arise and spending money allocated in the community benefits agreement.
Squilla said he didn’t think the council members voting on these two bills would be indicative of what they think of the Arena proposal overall, especially considering that if the Arena bill fails, these two bills are meaningless.
In a joint statement, Councilmember Rue Landau and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said they both voted “no” on every piece of legislation introduced Tuesday.
“We have approached the proposed arena in Market East with an open mind and continue to do so,” council members said in a statement. “We recognize the need to revitalize Market East, but throughout the process of hearings and conversations about the proposed arena, we still have too many unanswered questions and significant unaddressed concerns to advance any legislation related to this project .”
There is less than a month before the City Council concludes its session for the year, and as time moves toward 2024, many lawmakers acknowledge they will have to make a decision on the proposed arena one way or another.
Some councilors have already made their decision, but most believe negotiations still need to take place.
“I have some serious questions here about the SEPTA angle,” said Councilman Mike Driscoll. “We need the Sixers to pay for the renovation in its entirety. So if we can get closer to that point, I would say yes.”
“I mean, the arena is fine in South Philly, it’s fine anywhere else, but I think right now the Center City needs to be revitalized, but I don’t think the arena is,” said at-large council member Kendra Brooks .
