Residents opposed to a proposed data center in Big Beaver packed a town hall Tuesday night, raising concerns about transparency, infrastructure, and environmental impacts.
The meeting, hosted by Switch, the company proposing the project, was held at the Big Beaver Boro Volunteer Fire Company building.
Police officers stationed at the doors denied members of the media access to the event, despite it being advertised as a public town hall.
Outside the meeting, nearly everyone Channel 11 spoke with shared concerns about the proposal.
“We don’t want them here and we’ll do whatever we can to keep that from happening,” Aaron Zajac said.
Inside the packed fire department, residents questioned company representatives about the possible impact the project could have on nearby communities.
“On a daily basis, just more strain both on physical infrastructure, power grid, water quality. It’s going to be a pretty big strain on the community,” said Ekeni Abakah of Beaver County.
Several attendees told Channel 11 they did not leave the meeting with clear answers from the company.
“They’re basically questioning our knowledge like they’re thinking that we don’t know much or we don’t care much, but in reality we live here,” Abakah said.
Switch announced plans to build a campus on land roughly the size of 300 football fields.
Channel 11 previously reported Big Beaver Borough amended an ordinance in September 2025 to allow data centers.
The Pittsburgh International Race Complex announced the sale of the property the following month in October.
People who attended Tuesday’s meeting said they believe the process has moved too quickly and without enough public input.
“They’ve been fast-tracking this. It’s been very much out of the public eye as much as possible, it seems,” Aaron Zajac said.
Representatives for Switch at the meeting declined to comment.
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