A brief stop-work order was issued and then retracted for construction on the DC BLOX Thunderbird data center on Sept. 11 and 12. The order was issued after a nearby resident reported heavy machinery and work starting on the site without a posted permit. After an inspection, work was allowed to continue on the site under a drainage permit, which is required to be visibly posted on the site.
While the construction continues, there are still concerns from some community members about the presence of private security and local police near the site. Frustrations have continued to rise after a lack of communication from DC BLOX.
Megan Lapa is a member of Eastside Community Action (ECA), which has been organizing against the data center since it was proposed in July.
“It’s the audacity of it,” Lapa said. “They want to come here and build this project, but they’re not telling us anything beyond what they’re required to. They’re not listening to our concerns or what we’re saying.”
ECA has filed a petition for judicial review of the variance of use the Metropolitan Development Commission approved for development of the site. The petition says that the request did not adequately meet the requirements for a variance of use of a site zoned Industrial 3.
“[The] goal is to get this [land] in the hands of the community,” Lapa said. “Whether that’s for a different industrial development or whatever it may be, we want to be able to have some [community input].”
While the ECA has expressed its dislike of the project, some Butler students are experiencing the same issue in their own communities.
Sophia McKinley, a sophomore philosophy and political science double major, is from Kokomo, Ind., a community an hour north of campus, which has also shown strong opposition to its own data center project.
“Being at [Butler], so much of our curriculum is community-based,” McKinley said. “[Data centers] are an issue we’re seeing affect students in their hometown; we should carry that over [to] caring about it here.”
McKinley sees the issue as an opportunity for students to get more involved in the local community.
“This is the time you’re going to be most available to care, have the resources to [get involved] and be around people your age that care about similar things,” McKinley said. “If you’re seeing so many of your peers passionate about this, maybe it’s time to think about why that is.”
While communities remain wary of data centers in their area, some involved are supportive of the initiatives, particularly the potential industrial and monetary benefits.
Michael-Paul Hart is the city-county councilor for District 20, where the site is located. District 20 is also where Google withdrew a rezoning request for a data center last year after community disagreement and an expected no-vote from the City-County Council.
“[Thunderbird Commerce Center] is a site that has power already,” Hart said. “It is surrounded by other industrial-type uses. If you were going to pick a site, [this] is a good site given its history of being a brownfield [and] being a manufacturing area.”
Hart says that the development will provide benefits to District 20, allowing for further investment into the community as a result of potential tax abatements, commonly referred to as tax breaks, and community impact payments.
“[The data center buildings] will be the smallest [ones] over there, but they will pay seven to 10 times more because of [the] equipment inside it, even under tax abatement,” Hart said. “In this case, the charity and community impact is between [$7 million] and $8 million. Without a tax abatement, I can’t get those checks.”
While a vote for tax abatements for the DC BLOX site has not been scheduled, abatements were recently approved for the Sabey Decatur Township data center project and a vote on abatements for the Metrobloks site is scheduled for Oct. 21.
DC BLOX could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.