Dozens rally against data center plans for former Indianapolis drive-in
This article was first published by WISHTV here.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Dozens of people on Monday night protested plans for a new data center at a former drive-in theater in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis.
The protest was organized in response to a project proposed by the development company Metrobloks, which aims to construct a data center at the site of the former Sherman Drive-In theater.
Terry Triplett, a neighbor, said, “Y’all could’ve built a plaza, y’all could have built a Kroger, y’all could have built a better food market for us, a better plaza, anything. Why build a building that’s gonna kill a lot of us, in the long run.”
James Wilson, another neighbor, said, “You know, we can’t have politicians making decisions for us on our behalf. A data center doesn’t speak for us, and with us coming together we’re displaying we don’t want it here, and we’re not gonna take it.”
Metrobloks representatives argue that the site has been vacant for years but still has a power supply, existing fiber optics, and the right zoning to support such a project.
Residents have expressed concerns about the environmental impact and neighborhood disinvestment that might result from the data center’s construction.
A City-Council Council member in September told News 8 that, to his knowledge, an agreement isn’t in place to purchase the property yet. Indy Economic Development Inc. also told News 8 that it hasn’t received a request for incentives.
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