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Nashville's Fisk University making plans for $900 million renovation and data center

Fisk University President Agenia Clark on Thursday announced a $900 million plan to remake the historically Black university’s North Nashville campus, complete with a 100,000-square-foot data and technology center.

Details remain limited as the 160-year-old university, once home to civil rights luminaries like John Lewis and Ida B. Wells, embarks on the project, dubbed Quantum Leap. Fisk plans to renovate three residence halls and build at least five major projects: the data center, an annex for the John Lewis Center for Social Justice, a 120,000-square-foot sports arena, a 45,000-square foot student center and an 80,000-square-foot annex to the Carl Van Vechten Gallery.

Fisk is submitting the proposal to Metro for approval, Clark said.

The push comes amid a groundswell of opposition to data centers around the country, with residents expressing concerns about air and water quality, strain on power infrastructure and noise. More than 70 percent of Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their community, according to newly released Gallup polling.

Asked whether Fisk has a partner for the data center, Clark said she is “not in a position to talk about that today.”

Don Hardin, owner of project and construction management firm Don Hardin Group and a partner on the Fisk project, said the team studied the impacts of data centers across the country “because we want to make sure we do it right.”

He said that Nashville Electric Service has assured the group that there is sufficient capacity to handle the data center’s electricity needs without increasing power bills for neighbors. Hardin also said the data center, at 30 megawatts, will be “fairly small” compared to other centers.

Information about the financing of the overall project also remains limited.

“Every single piece of this master plan has a different financial model to it,” she said. “There will be fundraising. I can assure you that.”

Hardin said there is a list of priority projects and that projects will commence “as opportunities come about.” The annex at the John Lewis Center is likely first up and could be complete within two years. He said the data center is not expected to generate the revenue to complete the other projects.


(AP Photo George Walker IV)
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