Proposed AI data center next to Nashville Zoo causes a stir

A proposed data center directly next to the Nashville Zoo is drawing growing pushback from zoo leaders, neighbors and more than 150,000 people who have signed a petition opposing the project.

Permit applications filed with Metro by Georgia-based DC Blox show plans for a single-story, 69,220-square-foot data center at 648 Grassmere Park. The proposal also includes tearing down two existing office buildings on the property.

The site spans about 23.5 acres and is currently owned by MarketStreet Enterprises, according to permit filings. For comparison, the planned building would cover an area a little larger than a football field, including the end zones.

The project remains in the early stages. The property has not been sold, and the grading permit application is still going through Metro’s process.

Still, Nashville Zoo President and CEO Rick Schwartz says zoo leaders are speaking out now because of where the project would be located.

“I’m not against data centers, but they should not be located by the number one attraction in the Nashville community,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the zoo’s top priority is protecting its animals and their environment, along with the safety of visitors, staff and neighbors. He said zoo leaders are concerned about possible noise, light, water and energy impacts from the proposed facility.

“The noise pollution, the light pollution, all of those things affect animals, affect their photo periods, affect their life cycles,” Schwartz said.

He said those concerns are especially serious for some of the zoo's most sensitive species, including its clouded leopard breeding program.

Schwartz said Nashville Zoo has bred more clouded leopards than anyone else in the world and has some of the most genetically valuable animals in the global population.

The zoo also plans to bring in okapi, a rare species from the Congo that Schwartz said can also be sensitive to light and noise.

Schwartz said the zoo had been in talks for years to buy part of the same property, including an existing building, with the hope of turning it into an education and conservation center.

“The building is already there,” Schwartz said. “It would save the zoo an enormous amount of money. It would serve tens and tens of thousands of children for conservation education.”

The zoo’s concerns are now gaining support beyond its gates. A petition opposing the data center gained more than 150,000 signatures in about a day.

One nearby resident and zoo visitor said the zoo is part of what makes the neighborhood special.

“We live near the giraffes, and we can hear the monkeys,” Sara Riep said. “I’ve been coming here for over a decade as a nanny and now as a mom.”

She said she was not surprised to see so many people rally behind the zoo.

“I think Nashville’s a community that rallies behind each other,” Riep said. “We want our zoo to be here forever and it’s just a staple in the community.”
Mayor Freddie O’Connell said his administration has also reviewed the proposed project and has concerns.

“What I know about that data center definitely has me concerned,” O’Connell said.

The mayor said Metro’s legal department is looking into the proposal, including what he called an unusual part of the process.

“This one seems particularly unusual in that a non-owner for the property seems to be applying for a building permit, so we’re exploring that,” O’Connell said.

DC Blox has not publicly shared details about the facility’s expected energy use, water demand or overall investment. FOX 17 News reached out to DC Blox about the project and the zoo’s concerns. As of Friday afternoon, the company had not responded.

https://fox17.com/news/local/petition-against-nashville-zoo-proposed-data-center-150k-people-sign-opposing-georgia-based-dc-blox-grassmere-park-marketstreet-enterprises-davidson-county-tennessee
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