Washington Square West board takes ‘no position’ on proposed Sixers arena

After months of inquiry and debate, the Washington Square West Civic Association has decided not to take a position on the Sixers’ plan to build an arena in Center City.

In a statement released Thursday night, the civic association noted that its winter opinion survey showed 77% of respondents opposed to the arena and said the outcome, while maybe not fully representative, “speaks volumes about the sentiment within our neighborhood.”

Still, the statement said, after grappling with the potential positive and negative impacts of an arena and holding multiple discussions among board members, “we’ve decided not to take a position on the proposal at this time.”

“This decision was not made lightly,” the board wrote, and “reflects our desire to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to secure the best possible outcomes for our beloved neighborhood.”

Efforts to reach civic association president Tami Sortman for comment have been unsuccessful. The Sixers declined to comment.

Some residents are accusing the board of abandoning its responsibility to the neighborhood. Board member Katie Dillon Low issued a public dissent, calling the failure to take a stand a “dereliction” of the board’s duties.

“Our neighbors spoke to us loudly and clearly,” but the civic association declined to act because “a minority of board members continue to speak over the community voice — to ensure that some invisible group of our neighbors that supposedly supports the project is given equal representation.”

The Sixers’ “propaganda operation, or its shills in government or quasi-government, should not be allowed to overtake the lives and livelihoods of regular, working-class Philadelphians,” Low said. “Just because they say it will be good for us does not mean it is good for us.”

She said agreement on the civic association statement was not unanimous.

Washington Square West is one of two big residential communities, with Chinatown, that border the Market East arena site and would be affected by the $1.55 billion project. The association leadership has been criticized for hearing months of presentations, beginning in June, but taking no position on the arena.

On Thursday night and Friday, the association was pelted with criticism on its Instagram page, with one person calling for the group to be disbanded, others describing the leadership as cowardly, and one writing, “We hear loud and clear that you don’t actually represent us.”

In June the civic association heard from Sixers project leaders and from representatives of Comcast Spectacor, the team’s landlord at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia. Chinatown organizations and POWER Interfaith addressed the association in October. In November, a consultant conducting the city’s community-impact study shared her initial findings with the neighborhood, and in early December, the association held an in-person, residents-only discussion on the arena.

It also sent a letter outlining 16 neighborhood concerns to Councilmember Mark Squilla, a key player in the debate whose 1st District includes Wash West and the project site. Philadelphia city officials responded to the queries in writing.

The 18,500-seat arena would stand on the footprint of Market to Filbert and 10th to 11th Streets — between Wash West, home to 16,225, and Chinatown, where about 6,919 live.

The Sixers say the venue would help its surroundings, attracting shoppers and diners, encouraging business development, and increasing foot traffic. New lighting and security staff would make the area safer, they say. The team said in January that it had collected 30,000 signatures from residents and commuters in favor of the arena project.

Chinatown neighborhood surveys show that opposition there tops 90%. Five other groups representing residents and voters in Center City and South Philadelphia came out against the development in October, calling on Squilla to block the project.

Squilla has said those closest to the site, including residents of Wash West, should have the greatest say in what happens there.

“The Civic [Association] is reneging on its mission and conceding its responsibility under the false pretense of neighborhood desire to compromise,” the activist group No Arena Washington Square West said in a statement Friday. “The decision-makers in this process need to understand that the Civic cannot be relied upon to advocate for the true desires of those that live in Wash West. … We will do that work in their stead.”

The group previously accused the civic association of “a negligence of duty” in ignoring the results of the community survey. The January release of those results showed 77.4% opposed and 12.9% in favor, the rest neutral or undecided. A total of 412 people responded.

Sixers arena-project spokesperson Mark Nicastre said at the time that the civic association acknowledged the results constituted a small group, were not reflective of the full community, and did not represent the opinion of the board.