Some residents oppose $500 million data center at vacant drive-in site
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Neighbors are pushing back on a $500 million data center proposed for the east side of Indianapolis.
Around 20 residents gathered this week to oppose the proposed data center on Sherman Drive near 25th Street, at the site of the former Sherman Drive-in movie theater.
Some community members see the data center as a harmful development that will pollute their air, land, and water. But Democrat Ron Gibson, who represents the area on the Indianapolis City-County Council, disagrees and thinks it’ll help bring an economic boom to the community.
“This property has been vacant for 40 years. I know we want some development here. This is an opportunity to open up. Move from a position of blight to a position of opportunity, and I believe it’s the first step.”
Los Angeles-based company Metrobloks wants to try its luck in Indianapolis on 13.5 acres in the vacant lot of the former drive-in site. Metrobloks could transform the site into a data center in two years if it gets zoning approval.
But, Cierra Johnson and some other long-time community members don’t want it. Johnson is part of the Protect Martindale Brightwood Neighborhood Coalition. “We want to raise awareness and make sure everyone in the neighborhood knows about the data center proposal, what they’re actually planning to build in our neighborhood, and how they’ll be affected. There’ll be health effects, not to mention noise and air pollution, so we want to make sure people know about that so they can stand alongside us and stand against it.”
Metrobloks said it’ll build a low-impact data center, having a closed-loop cooling system, and using very little water and no groundwater from the neighborhood.
The company said it’ll cover electricity cost and not rely on resident subsidies.
Plus, the Metrobloks would inject $10 million in property tax into the community.
Gibson said, “Keep an open mind. This proposed development is reasonable, has no hazards, and will add value to our community.”
But some residents aren’t buying it, and they will fight it ahead of the public meeting on Dec. 11.
Johnson said concerned neighbors will be canvassing the area. “Yes, we will absolutely continue to fight. We’ll be following each development as it occurs, and we’ll be there every step of the way to do what we can to stop this data center from coming to our neighborhood.”
Martinsdale Brightwood isn’t the only community that could get a new data center. There will be a town hall on Tuesday night for a proposed data center on the city’s southwest side in Decatur Township.
Previous coverage
- Vacant drive-in theater site in Indianapolis may host new data center
- Dozens rally against data center plans for former Indianapolis drive-in
- Developer talks with neighbors about data center at former Sherman Drive-in
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