Brad Paisley criticizes data center planned next to Nashville Zoo

Brad Paisley, a Grammy award-winning American country music singer and songwriter, urged his followers to sign a petition to stop the construction of a 69,000 square-foot data center that would lie 50 yards from the Nashville Zoo, which he called “an absolute nightmare scenario,” in an Instagram reel.

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“First of all, they don’t have the power to build this, they don’t have the water. It doesn’t belong there, it would be an enormous monstrosity, an absolute eyesore and detract in every way from not only that zoo, but that area,” Paisley said in his video, which he posted collaboratively with the zoo on Saturday. The Nashville Zoo had 1.4 million visitors last year, has over 3,700 animals, and represents over 350 species. It is “one of the top zoos in the world,” Paisley said in his post .

The video comes days after the zoo created a petition and promoted it on social media, which brought national attention to the dispute, and has amassed 331,824 signatures and over 126,599 shares as of Monday afternoon. In an interview with NBC News on Friday , the zoo’s president and CEO Rick Schwartz, said he was particularly concerned about its impact on rare and vulnerable species at the facility, such as the clouded leopard, whose population the zoo is working to conserve.

Paisley, a Nashville resident, is so far the most widely recognized voice to push back against the project.

“No one has shared studies or environmental impact assessments. Just their word. That’s why the Nashville Zoo is asking the community to join in vehemently opposing the proposed data center being built adjacent to the Zoo,” the petition states.

The proposed data center is from DC BLOX, an Atlanta-based company that specializes in building and operating data centers as a service to “hyperscalers, enterprises, communications providers, and technology companies,” according to its website . With 23 data centers currently in operation and development , DC BLOX aims to expand the number of data centers across the country. “More data centers are required outside the major cities nearer to edge markets to house the necessary technology to run services closer to data producers and consumers,” their website states.

A spokesperson for DC BLOX told NBC News on Friday that he did not immediately know what the data center would be used for or whether AI companies would be among the customers for the site. However, the spokesperson said its proposed data center would “not be an AI factory placing a burden on local resources and is proposed on a site that had previously operated a data center.”

The Nashville Zoo says that the noise could disturb some of its animals and nearby residents. Out of that concern, it is taking action in an attempt to fight the data center.

“As we move forward, we have taken the next step in our fight against the proposed data center,” the Nashville Zoo wrote in a comment to NBC News. “Our Land Use Attorney and former Metro Codes Director Bill Herbert has filed a zoning appeal with the city. The goal of this appeal is to overturn the permits that DC BLOX has filed and that have been approved.”

While the zoo waits for the zoning appeal to be addressed, they are urging community members to attend a session on Thursday where the city’s metro council is debating legislation that would prohibit data centers larger than 500,000 square feet and require the centers’ to be built at least half a mile away from homes, schools, and zoos.

Nashville residents have voiced their concern to Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who “is working closely with our Department of Law and Metro departments to ensure large-scale data centers don’t harm our local communities,” Julie Oaks Smith, Chief Communications Officer at the mayor’s office wrote to NBC News in a comment. “We are looking at what options are available under the law for the mayor and the Metro government to implement safeguards to protect our air, water, and rate payers, and keep our neighborhoods and our residents from being negatively impacted by these facilities.”

The petition comes amid a nationwide pushback against the development of data centers near communities and neighborhoods, due to environmental, noise, and health concerns, alongside increasing frustration with tech and AI in general.

Paisley often weaves social commentary and complex issues into his music, and outside of his music career, he remains engaged on cultural and philanthropic issues. Paisley and his wife helped start a non-profit called The Store in 2020, which is a free referral-based grocery store in Nashville that fights to combat food insecurity. Paisley also joined U-24, a platform to fundraise and support Ukraine founded by President of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in January 2023.

“Nashville Zoo is overwhelmed with gratitude for the support from the community as we continue our fight against the proposed data center. We would like to take this time to thank Brad Paisley, a dear friend of the Zoo for making a public statement on our behalf,” the Nashville Zoo wrote to NBC News in a comment.