INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Google is building a proposed data center in southeastern Indianapolis, according to new documents obtained from the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development.

The name of company that would use the data center had not previously been shared publicly until this week.

Franklin Township neighbors are fighting against the land being rezoned for the multinational technology company’s project, proposed for nearly 468 acres off I-74 and Post Road. News 8 first reported in March on the community concerns about the proposed data center.

The Metropolitan Development Commission will consider and vote on the rezoning petition at its meeting at 1 p.m. July 16. No agenda had been posted for that meeting as of Thursday night.

Yard signs opposing the data center are all over the township. The Cooper family has lived along Davis Road for 31 years, right across from where the proposed data center could go. Teresa Cooper said, “We figured that eventually the land would be sold, but not to a data center.”

One of their concerns is eventually having to daily look at the data center. A rendering was in the document from the Department of Metropolitan Development.

The document said Google will put up a berm topped with trees in an attempt to shield the data center from view. “That’s nice, but it doesn’t compare to what we look at every day, which is a nice open field. We see great sunsets. That’s what attracted us to moving out here.”

The Coopers are also concerned about the noise the data center will create. “We were at a meeting and they had a recording of 65 decibels, and we were in a building, of course, and it was to me very loud.”

According to Yale Environmental Health and Safety, 65 decibels falls within the range of a normal conversation.

The Coopers would like to see something else go in across the street. “Restaurants, medical centers, shopping centers, just a lot of different things could go over there. A park.”

The family isn’t confident their community’s fight to stop the data center from coming will be successful. “I’m sure it’s a done deal. I feel like we go to these meetings, we give our input, but they’re really not listening.”

I-Team 8 emailed Google asking for a statement in response to people’s concerns but didn’t receive a response. Google has eight data centers in the United States, and two more in development. In August, Google broke ground Friday on a $2 billion data center southeast of downtown Fort Wayne.

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