The Nashville Zoo has declined a memorandum of understanding proposed by the company that plans to build a data center on a site adjacent to the zoo's property.
According to a statement from zoo spokesperson Leah Trice, the MOU would have allowed construction of DC Blox's initial 69,000-square-foot, 10-megawatt data center and eliminated the company's plans for a larger 40-megawatt data center expansion. In addition, the zoo said the company offered to give a portion of the property to the zoo for future development.
The zoo's board of directors met on Thursday and unanimously voted to reject the proposal.
“We will not turn our backs on the 563,000 members of this community and beyond who have supported us, nor the 3,000 animals entrusted to our care,” Rick Schwartz, CEO of the Nashville Zoo, says in a statement.
“We stand by what we've said from the beginning: a data center this close to vulnerable species, schools and neighboring communities has not been proven safe.”
DC Blox could not be reached for comment. The company's $23 million purchase of the 23.49-acre property, which offers two structures and an address of 648 Grassmere Park, has been recorded by the Davidson County Register of Deeds.
The purchase was made as Metro Council recently passed a bill to regulate the construction of data centers and approved a temporary moratorium on permits for the tech facilities. Also, the mayor's office effort to seek eminent domain for the property is ongoing and cleared its second reading in council.
This article was first published by the Scene's sister publication, the Nashville Post.
