After years of protests against a plan to build a new arena for the NBA’s 76ers near Philadelphia’s Chinatown, a sudden reversal in those plans has left the neighborhood’s activists breathing a little easier — but also feeling a sense of whiplash and distrust.
Organizers, leaders and residents in the area say they’re heartened that the previous plan, which was heavily criticized for its potential to gentrify the Chinatown area and push out Asian American businesses and families, will no longer threaten their community.
But after what many said was a noninclusive process, they also do not trust developers and officials to hear them out in future proposals.
“I was very excited. I feel relief,” said Wei Chen, an organizer with the nonprofit Asian Americans United. “But it was very unexpected. … It was a terrible process, making the community feel more anxious.”
The 76ers did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. But in a 2022 interview, David Adelman, an entrepreneur who’s leading the arena project for the team, said he had been involving locals in the plans.
Marchers protest a proposal to build an arena near Philadelphia’s Chinatown on June 10, 2023.
“Almost each day since we’ve announced, we’ve had a meeting with a different group within the community,” he said.
The announcement, the 76ers said in a press release, comes as a result of an agreement struck between their owners, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, and pro sports company Comcast Spectacor. The 76ers, along with hockey team the Flyers, are scheduled to move into a new facility that’s expected to open in 2031. Meanwhile the companies said they still plan to “invest in the revitalization” of Market East in Center City, the area where the arena was previously planned for, and that’s on the edge of the Fashion District, neighboring Chinatown.
Xu Lin, whose restaurant Bubblefish opened in Chinatown roughly a decade ago, said he first felt stunned with “disbelief” by the arena news, before dissolving into tears of joy. The restaurant, he said, is just a half block away from the proposed arena site, and the construction, traffic and noise from the project would have kept customers away.
“It would have destroyed my business,” Lin said.
Though he said he feels a bit of a reprieve, he’s also uneasy about what’s to come. Lin said he’s not confident that developers and officials will take the community into consideration for any future plans in the area.
“I have zero trust in them. I don’t think they engage the community in any meaningful way,” he said.
Many organizers also brought up how the emotional distress inflicted on residents could have been avoided if developers and officials listened to Chinatown locals early on.
“There was not an inclusive process to hear the community’s voice,” Chen, whose group was part of a coalition to oppose the arena, said. “Why did you have our community suffer with this nightmare?”
In a press conference, hosted by the coalition on Monday, Mohan Seshadri, executive director at the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, echoed a similar sentiment.
“We are so proud and happy and relieved that Chinatown, a 150-year-old community, will continue to stand strong,” Seshadri said. “But let’s be clear, it didn’t have to be like this. None of this had to be like this when we said, two and a half years ago, that this arena was the wrong site, the wrong location for a project like this. That it was going to destroy Chinatown.”
Fariha Khan, a co-director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, said that while the outcome is a major victory for Chinatown, it’s still unclear whether the news was influenced by cries from the community. Still, protestors deserve recognition for their efforts, she said.
“The role that our community organizations played was a significant one. They were so determined, so relentless in making sure that city council and other members of the mayor’s office heard their voice,” Khan said. “It was admirable.”
Khan added that throughout the years, Philadelphia’s Chinatown has been treated as collateral damage for several major development projects, including the Vine Street Expressway, a highway that was completed in 1991 and essentially cut the neighborhood in half. Residents have had to defend the area against many other potential proposals, including a baseball stadium in 2000 and a casino just a few years later. However, Khan said, it’s still possible for everyone to win.
“There’s multiple ways for builders and union workers and the community members to come up with many ideas for rethinking what Chinatown could look like,” Khan said. “It’s just the desire. Who do we want to include in this conversation?”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com