Nashville Zoo Proving a Beast of an Opponent for Data Center
In what might be a national first, a Tennessee complex with more than 3,700 animals says DC Blox’s planned data hub would adversely affect the animals
By Amanda Schiavo June 22, 2026 3:38 pm
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Data centers sometimes want the lion’s share of available resources. In what might be a first for a U.S. teeming with data center opposition, it’s a zoo that’s fighting back.
On May 20, it was reported that DC Blox, an Atlanta-based digital infrastructure provider, intends to build a 69,000-square-foot data center at 648 Grassmere Park in Nashville’s Radnor neighborhood. If approved, the development would be built just yards from the Nashville Zoo — something the animal care facility is actively fighting against.
The zoo, at 3777 Nolensville Pike, is home to over 3,700 animals, all of which the facility claims would be negatively impacted by the construction and utilization of the data center.
Earlier this month, the zoo launched a petition against the building of the data center. Over Father’s Day weekend, the petition reached more than half a million signatures.
“If the data center is built, it would have detrimental effects on our animals and the people who call South Nashville home,” Leah Trice, a representative for the Nashville Zoo, told Commercial Observer. “The property line of the proposed data center is only 320 feet from the breeding facilities of our top conservation species, the clouded leopard. These elusive animals are extremely sensitive to mechanical noises.”
Trice added that the prolonged noise pollution caused by the proposed data center’s construction would cause health problems for the zoo’s animals, as well as introduce pollutants to the animal and human environment.
“Stormwater runoff from this new construction would cause worse damage to our already fragile retention pond,” she said of the area, which already struggles with flooding. “The property’s water runoff goes directly into our watershed, potentially washing in pollutants that could harm our animals and the people who visit the zoo every day.”
The zoo’s lawyers are in contact with DC Blox, Trice said. The zoo has until July 6 to stop the data center from being built.
DC Blox did not immediately respond to Commercial Observer’s request for comment, but the firm did tell CBS News that “there is a tremendous amount of misinformation” out there regarding the development of the data center and its impact on the zoo.
The Nashville Zoo isn’t the only one fighting against the building of data centers. Opposition to the growing development of the large, resource-draining facilities has been widespread across the country, given the economic and environmental toll they can take.
“Data center opposition is nonpartisan,” Miquel Villa, an analyst at AI safety firm 10a labs, previously told CO. “You can find it in both blue and red states, and in red and blue counties.”
Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.
