Inside the Sixers’ $1.3B arena plan | Morning Newsletter

Do you even need to ask what the weather is going to be today? Temperatures are again expected to reach the upper 90s.

Today, we’ll break down everything we know about the Sixers’ plans to build an arena in Center City, which was officially unveiled this week but wouldn’t be completed until 2031.

Then, we’ll look at some people in the city who have a hard time beating the heat — those whose jobs are only made worse by hot weather.

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

— Matt Mullin (@matt_mullin, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

The big story of the day Thursday was the Sixers’ plan to move to a $1.3 billion arena at 10th and Market Streets when their lease at the Wells Fargo Center ends in 2031. And there’s a lot to take in. So we broke things down to make it easier to digest.

Here’s a look at three questions we answer in our FAQ-style story highlighting everything we currently know about the Sixers’ big plans:

So will this actually happen? This arena is still in the planning phases and is the better part of a decade away from completion. A lot can happen between now and then, and there are still a ton of permits and approvals that would need to be obtained. Last time a Philly team tried building in the same area, opposition from residents ultimately led to the plan’s being abandoned.

When would it be done? The completion date is 2031, which doesn’t even feel like a real year. It’s easier to wrap your head around four phases put forward by the Sixers: two years of approvals (2022-2024), two years of design (2024-2026), one year of demolition (2026-2027), and three years of construction (2028-2031).

Who is paying for all this? Mayor Jim Kenney confirmed on Thursday that no public money would be used, which differs from the team’s 2020 proposal to build an arena on the Delaware River Waterfront.

You can read more from Katie Krzaczek and myself right here.

For some, there’s no escaping the heat. We’re talking about people — sanitation workers, vegetable pickers, roofers, and more — whose jobs make it impossible to stay cool. Everyone has a different way of dealing with the heat, and some even rely on the kindness of those they serve to help.

In one of our many vignettes, Mike Newall painted the scene of what it’s like for a crew of sanitation workers in South Philly this week, who were out on Ritner Street before 8 a.m., when it was already over 80 degrees. That’s where he found Quamir Anderson, 25, and his truckmates — Rashan Purcell, 40, and crew supervisor Mamadou Sacko, 48 — battling “hovering flies, putrid stenches, and rude drivers.”

There were also coolers of juice left by neighbors to make the route slightly more tolerable. But for Anderson, there’s something greater that keeps him going.

“I like keeping the city clean,” he said. “You don’t want to be walking down the street every day, and it’s a mess. Can’t have a city like that.”

From vegetable pickers in flannel to cooks working in food trucks, make sure to check out the full story to see how others in the city deal during a heat wave.

Which former Phillies player is credited with helping invent walk-up music in baseball 50 years ago?

A) Mike Schmidt

B) Greg Luzinski

C) Dick Allen

D) Don Money

Find out if you know the answer.

☀️ Wondering: Why “abnormally dry” air is giving the current heat wave a boost.

🦁 Learning: How animals at the Philly Zoo stay cool in the heat — it involves something called bloodsicles.

⚾️ Reading: The laundry list of questions the Phillies will have to answer in the second half of the season. 🔑

This 4-mile-long stretch of land in Center City received a $2.5 million grant to expand.

CIVILLY KRAUT SHRILLER

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout goes to Virginia Thornton, who correctly guessed Washington Square as yesterday’s answer.

That’s it for me. My colleague Felicia Gans Sobey will be back on Sunday.