An AI data center is being built on my grandma's garden

reflections on Land, Eco-Memory, and Grief

When my grandma sold her house last year, she did not know the purchaser. Now her land and the surrounding 672 acres belong to the developer Vantage, who is building an AI data center that costs $15 billion.

Growing up, my grandma’s house was a sacred place to celebrate Christmas. She prepared a delicious meal for all the family to enjoy: liver pate, mushroom croustades and, my favorite, moon cookies. As a child, when it came time to open presents I was often asked to hand each gift to its recipient. It was a joy to search under the magical tree, full of handmade ornaments, its branches coated with ivory soap to look like snow. Grandma’s tree was brightly lit and placed beside the window so that those driving by on Highland Drive could see, and smile.

My grandma had lived on that land since 1988. It is where I learned to mow the lawn and how to plant flowers and herbs in the garden. We often saw wildlife there; deer, turkeys, chipmunks and geese. I loved the afternoons spent in the yard, staring out in the distance toward Lake Michigan, watching the birds fly by.

Vantage’s data center project is based in my hometown of Port Washington, Wisconsin, a city known for its historic lighthouse on Lake Michigan. Meanwhile, Vantage is calling their project the “Lighthouse” campus, “inspired by the iconic Port Washington lighthouse” as a “guiding light in data center design.”

Once, I was in Port Washington with a friend who was visiting for the first time. As we drove down a hill they saw the lake and, astonished, gasped, “That’s not a lake, that’s the ocean!” Each of our realities is profoundly shaped by our perception. The landscapes we encounter help us learn what is a hill and what is a mountain. They teach us what it means to live in the world, and how we ought to treat the land and the neighbors we share it with.

What do data centers teach us about our relationship to one another? To the earth?

Read the full article at National Catholic Reporter.