The Proposal

DC Blox has filed permits to demolish existing structures at 648 Grassmere Park, regrade the land, and build a data center campus.

The permits describe a 69,128 square foot building drawing 10 megawatts.

But geotechnical documents filed as part of the same permitting process describe a much larger project: two buildings totaling 345,000 square feet, 50 megawatts of power, a 72,000 square foot electrical substation, a guard house, parking structures, generator yards, and 12.4 acres of ground disturbance.

The site sits on karst geology with sinkhole risk, so the plans call for treating the soil with lime across the property to keep the ground from absorbing stormwater. Their own plans show that stormwater will discharge into three outfalls at the zoo.

The Impact

The site sits in the same karst watershed as Mill Creek, home to the Nashville crayfish, an endangered species found nowhere else on Earth.

The stormwater runoff and round-the-clock cooling noise would hit the zoo’s animal enclosures and conservation programs, including the clouded leopard breeding program.

Croft Middle School and Norman Binkley Elementary are both nearby, and the surrounding neighborhoods include Kurdish, Hispanic, and Arabic-speaking families.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The most effective thing you can do is talk to your friends, neighbors, small business owners, and anyone who will listen to you about the dangers of data centers in our community. Download a flyer in English, Spanish, or Kurdish and start the conversation.

Canvass your neighborhood

Show up to the July 7th meeting

The next public comment session is July 7. Show up, or write your council member and urge them to pass BL2026-1391 quickly.

Sign the petition