On December 19, 2024, the Philadelphia City Council approved a plan to build a basketball arena next to Philadelphia's Chinatown. The National Trust submitted written testimony in November opposing the plan for the potential detrimental impacts on surrounding area including Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

We will continue to work with local residents who strongly oppose the proposed arena development and urge the city council to work toward alternatives that will build on the survival of Philadelphia’s cultural legacy and support the local communities that deserve recognition and protection.

The letter below was sent to the members of the Philadelphia city council on November 22, 2024. A PDF of the letter can be downloaded here.

November 22, 2024

Honorable Members of the Philadelphia City Council,

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is testifying in support of local residents who strongly oppose the proposed arena development for its potential detrimental impacts on surrounding neighborhoods including Philadelphia’s Chinatown. The National Trust is a 75-year-old nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting historic places across the United States that tell the full American story. Last year, we recognized the significant cultural, historical, and community value of Philadelphia's Chinatown by including the community on our annual list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places due to the threat of the arena development.

Philadelphia's Chinatown is one of few remaining living, historic Chinatown communities in the country and must be protected. This community has participated in over 150 years of American life and continues to enrich the American cultural landscape. Philadelphia’s Chinatown offers future generations a physical connection to its past and is a working-class enclave that still nurtures generations of small and legacy businesses, residents, seniors, and community members.

The threats facing Chinatowns and other marginalized communities nationwide are often part of a systemic pattern of neglect and disinvestment, making them vulnerable to adverse development. These places are often not protected by historic and cultural designations. Further, Chinatowns have been asked for decades to accept disproportionate harm in the name of progress for all. Large-scale mega-projects that were proposed without community support and input have destroyed once vibrant communities, through both physical displacement and erosion of neighborhood fabric, and more gradual forces including gentrification. Philadelphia’s proposed arena development must be considered in this broader historical context.

Chinatown is one of the most historically significant neighborhoods in Philadelphia, embodying more than a century and a half of cultural and social history, and economic development. The community that has called Chinatown home for generations represents a rich tapestry of immigrant stories, resilience, and cultural contributions. We urge the city council to listen to the communities most impacted by this decision and to consider the long-term impact this project would have on Philadelphia's Chinatown and its residents. Protecting this neighborhood is a matter of preserving the cultural history of not only the city but of the nation as a whole.

We respectfully ask you to reconsider this development and work toward alternatives proposed by local residents that will build on the survival of Philadelphia’s cultural legacy and support the local communities that deserve recognition and protection. Once these communities are lost, it is all but impossible to bring them back.

Sincerely,

Di Gao
Senior Director of Research and Development, America’s Chinatowns program
National Trust for Historic Preservation