Fisk University
In May 2026, Fisk announced a $900 million campus master plan including a 30 MW, 100,000-square-foot data center in the heart of a historically Black neighborhood that already carries the weight of being split in half by an interstate in the 1960s.
The Case For (Fisk’s Pitch)
- Fisk, not an outside corporation, would own and control the facility
- Closed-loop cooling system; NES confirmed capacity without rate increases
- Workforce pipeline goal: 37208 residents as “participants in the digital economy, not bystanders”
- “Data centers are coming regardless, better us than an extractive out-of-state company”
- President Clark, Mayor O’Connell, and Chamber CEO Coleman all back it
The Case Against (Neighbors and Alumni)
- No meaningful community input before the announcement; many residents had never heard of the plan
- Unknown commercial partners. Who will actually use the facility?
- The I-40 parallel: an infrastructure decision imposed on North Nashville without consent
- Wastewater and noise impacts described as “still being studied”
- Equinix connection alleged (alumna with ties; $1M pledge in 2023) and officially denied
“Now here we are in 2026 and our university is accelerating detrimental infrastructure in our neighborhood. It’s almost shocking and hard to believe.”
Winston Wright, Fisk alumnus with a master’s in public health
The I-40 Parallel
In the 1960s, Interstate 40 was routed through North Nashville’s thriving Black Jefferson Street corridor, displacing roughly 1,400 residents and demolishing approximately 650 homes and 27 apartment buildings after public input was ignored. The legal challenge, one of the first to fight an interstate on racial discrimination grounds, failed in court. Median household income in the area fell to roughly $23,742 by 2020 versus ~$51,583 one mile away. The critics’ point is not that a data center is equivalent to an interstate. It is that a major infrastructure decision affecting a predominantly Black neighborhood is again being made without meaningful community consent, and by an institution that should know that history better than anyone.
Councilmember Horton’s Zoning Bill
First reading June 2, 2026, with 17 co-sponsors. This would be the first regulation of data centers in Nashville, because as of June 2026, there are none. As Horton put it: “We have no rules or restrictions on them in place currently, so theoretically they could be built in neighborhoods today without any restrictions, without the opportunity for community involvement.”
| Classification | Size / Power | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Small data center | under 20 MW | Standard permit process |
| Large data center (Fisk falls here) | 20 to 100 MW | Special exception + BZA public hearing |
| Prohibited facilities | over 100 MW or over 500,000 sq ft | Banned in Nashville under proposed bill |
All facilities would require closed-loop cooling, noise limits, a 10%+ renewable energy plan, NES capacity confirmation, and annual compliance reports. The bill must pass three readings and go to the Planning Commission. Expected timeline: August 2026 at earliest.