About six months after Springdale Council approved a conditional-use application for a massive data center in the borough, developers are planning on returning for an open house aimed at engaging residents.
The meeting is set to take place from 5 to 8 p.m. June 10 in the Springdale Borough Building gymnasium, said Brian Regli, a consultant for developer Allegheny DC Property Co.
Unlike some previous hearings, the meeting won’t have any legal significance, nor will it serve as an official borough council meeting.
Instead, Regli said, it is meant to show some of the changes developers have made to the center’s design and offer a chance for residents to ask questions.
Not all of the design changes were immediately clear, but Regli said Allegheny DC had shifted the site’s proposed entrance from Duquesne Avenue to Pittsburgh Street and had made efforts to reduce noise from diesel backup generators.
Rather than a one-on-one question-and-answer period, Regli said various stations will be set up throughout the gymnasium focused on different aspects of the center’s design including acoustics, construction and water usage.
“I want people to see what we’re doing and be as transparent as we can,” he said.
As it stands, the proposal calls for a 60-foot high, 565,000-square-foot hyperscale data center and a 200,000-square-foot mechanical cooling plant at the site of the former coal-fired Cheswick Generating Station.
Springdale Council approved a conditional-use application for the center in December despite fierce resistance from borough residents; but developers still have to clear what likely will be months of land development hearings involving Allegheny County before construction can begin.
Attendees in June can expect some familiar faces from previous meetings, including Regli and Pittsburgh-based sound expert Jeff Babich.
But Regli said more than a dozen experts would be present to answer questions about the center.
Though much of the initial design work during the conditional-use period was performed by engineering firm Jacobs Solutions, Regli said Allegheny DC has since dropped the company from the project.
Instead, developers have turned to Pittsburgh-based Mascaro Construction and a local division of international building giant Turner Construction in an effort engage Western Pennsylvania firms.
Attendees can also expect representatives from Ohio-based Woolpert Inc., which will provide architectural work on the project, and engineering firm JB&B, Regli said.
He said Allegheny DC would likely submit its preliminary land development plan to Allegheny County the day after the open house in hopes of concluding hearings by the end of the year.
After that, the company would have to submit a final land development plan and acquire various permits from entities like the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Allegheny County Health Department.
Construction, Regli hopes, can begin sometime in 2027.
Though the past six months have seen a lull in the borough’s data center debate, some Springdale residents have continued to organize in an effort to halt the project during its upcoming land development hearings.
A group also held a protest Saturday morning along Pittsburgh Street.
Regli said he was aware of the protest and that many residents vehemently oppose his company’s proposal.
He said he’s unsure whether he’ll ultimately be able to win over locals.
“I don’t know, but I’ll keep trying,” Regli said.
Nearby in Upper Burrell, environmental groups Protect PT and the Climate Reality Project are planning a community workshop Thursday to discuss a data center proposal in that city.
