A 69,000 sq ft data centre was planned beside Nashville Zoo; 600,000 people signed against it as a clouded leopard cub became the face of the fight to protect wildlife
A proposed 69,000 sq ft data centre beside Nashville Zoo in Nashville, Tennessee, has triggered a huge public campaign, with nearly 600,000 people signing a Change.org petition opposing the development. The project, proposed by digital infrastructure company DC BLOX, has raised concerns at the zoo over potential noise, artificial light and other impacts from round-the-clock data centre operations on vulnerable animals and conservation programmes. A young clouded leopard named Mayuree, born at the zoo in May 2026, became a powerful symbol of the campaign as the zoo urged supporters to oppose the project. The dispute has since moved beyond the petition, with Nashville officials introducing restrictions on large data centres and authorising steps that could allow the city to acquire the disputed property.
Why Nashville Zoo opposed the data centre
The proposed development is located at 648 Grassmere Park, immediately adjacent to Nashville Zoo. The initial project application described a single-storey data centre of approximately 69,220 sq ft on a 23.49-acre property. The zoo raised concerns that a facility operating continuously could introduce persistent mechanical noise from cooling equipment and generators, along with artificial lighting and other infrastructure impacts. The zoo argued that such conditions could interfere with animal behaviour, biological rhythms and breeding programmes, particularly for species involved in conservation efforts. It has stressed that the issue is not simply the size of the proposed building but the potential cumulative effect of a large-scale, continuously operating industrial facility next to animal habitats.
Nearly 600,000 people signed the petition
Nashville Zoo launched its Change.org petition on June 3, 2026, calling on supporters to oppose the proposed development. The campaign quickly gained national attention, passing 400,000 signatures within days and continuing to grow throughout the summer. By late August, the zoo said nearly 600,000 people had signed the petition, while the Change.org page itself showed more than 599,000 verified signatures. The scale of the response turned what began as a local land-use dispute into a much larger public debate over the environmental and conservation implications of data centre development near sensitive facilities.
Clouded leopard cub Mayuree became a symbol of the campaign
Mayuree was born at Nashville Zoo on May 5, 2026 and became the zoo’s 51st clouded leopard born since 1991. The zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for clouded leopards, making successful breeding an important part of its conservation work. Mayuree was also notable because she was the first clouded leopard cub at Nashville Zoo to be co-reared under the programme, combining maternal care with early human socialisation. As the zoo campaigned against the nearby development, photographs and updates about the young cub helped put a face on its concerns about protecting animals and maintaining successful conservation programmes.
The zoo’s concerns focused on noise and light
Nashville Zoo has argued that the proposed data centre could create a very different sound and lighting environment from the one surrounding its existing animal habitats. Data centres require substantial cooling systems and backup power infrastructure, and the zoo has expressed particular concern about continuous operational noise, including sounds produced by cooling equipment and generators. It has also raised concerns about artificial lighting. The zoo’s position is that vulnerable animals should not be exposed to potentially disruptive conditions without strong evidence that the impacts can be adequately controlled. Importantly, the zoo’s concerns are about potential future impacts. There is no evidence that the proposed DC BLOX facility has already harmed Mayuree or other animals.
DC BLOX disputed the concerns
DC BLOX has defended its proposal and said the project can be designed to control the impacts highlighted by the zoo. The company said it planned to use closed-loop or waterless cooling and would comply with applicable noise and environmental requirements. It also said generators would be positioned away from the zoo and equipped with measures intended to reduce sound, including sound-attenuating enclosures and muffled exhaust systems. The company has argued that some claims about the project have been inaccurate or overstated and that appropriate engineering controls can address concerns about noise, lighting and other potential effects.
The proposed development could be larger than the initial building
The 69,000 sq ft figure describes the building in the initial public permit application, but documents and subsequent reporting have raised questions about the longer-term development planned for the property. A geotechnical document reported by the Nashville Scene described a possible three-storey, 40-megawatt data centre along with a substation and associated infrastructure. Nashville Zoo has also said the wider plans could involve substantially more power capacity than the initial facility. These additional elements are important because the debate has focused not only on the footprint of the first building but also on what could ultimately be developed on the 23-acre site.
Brad Paisley joined the campaign
The campaign also received support from country music star Brad Paisley, who publicly backed Nashville Zoo’s opposition to the development and encouraged people to sign the petition. His involvement helped bring additional national attention to an issue that had initially centred on a proposed development in south Nashville. The combination of the zoo’s conservation concerns, the rapidly growing petition and high-profile supporters helped make the project one of the city’s most closely watched development disputes.
Nashville imposed a temporary data centre moratorium
The controversy eventually prompted direct action from Nashville officials. Mayor Freddie O’Connell issued an executive order directing city departments to examine the potential infrastructure, environmental and community impacts associated with large-scale data centres. Metro Council subsequently approved legislation establishing a temporary moratorium on the acceptance and processing of permits for data-centre developments. The council also adopted new zoning rules addressing data-centre uses and the conditions under which such facilities can operate. The measures reflect wider concerns around the infrastructure requirements of large data centres, including electricity demand, backup generators, fuel storage, cooling systems, substations, noise, lighting, stormwater and 24-hour operations.
The disputed property became the centre of a bigger battle
DC BLOX purchased the roughly 23.49-acre property for about $23 million in July 2026, adding another layer to the dispute. Rather than simply relying on zoning restrictions, Metro Nashville later approved legislation authorising the city to acquire the property through negotiation or condemnation for stated public purposes. Mayor O’Connell approved that legislation in August. The measure does not mean the city has already seized the property, but it gives Nashville a legal mechanism to pursue acquisition of the site.
The data centre has not necessarily been stopped
Despite the petition, moratorium and potential acquisition of the property, the future of the project remains unresolved. The legal status of DC BLOX’s proposal has become an important part of the dispute, with questions over whether the project could retain certain development rights because of actions taken before the city’s new restrictions came into force. That means the nearly 600,000 petition signatures represent enormous public pressure but should not be described as having definitively cancelled the development. The fight has instead evolved into a broader legal and political dispute over land use, data-centre expansion and the protection of Nashville Zoo’s conservation work.
