Before the City of Lockport can host its first workshop to discuss the possibility of opening its Star Innovation District to data centers, a group of residents plans to formally oppose the idea.

The city announced on May 6 that it would be hosting public workshops on the concept. The meetings will feature speakers and experts from political offices, regional water agencies, ComEd and Nicor, as well as opportunities for residents to ask questions.

Additionally, the topics of the future of computing infrastructure and artificial intelligence will be discussed.

The workshops will be held at 7 p.m. on May 26 and June 4 in the Porter Room of Lockport Township High School East Campus. More dates may be added later.

Mayor Steven Streit said that the city is not committed to pursuing the idea, but that the Star Innovation District, which sits on the former Chevron property along the Illinois Sanitary and Shipping Canal, is zoned to accommodate one.

“We don’t have to sell it,” Streit said on May 6. “But it behooves us as a city to have a good understanding of this issue. This could be a big opportunity. It is a massive paradigm shift in our world.”

Previous ideas for the property, which was purchased by the city in 2021, included a quantum computing facility – which the city lost to Chicago in 2024 – and a “makers space,” which would have potentially included facilities for entertainment, arts and crafts, food and industrial and technology spaces.

“In 2021, the city purchased the Star Innovation District in an effort to proactively protect our community from what was being proposed by private developers on private property, namely distribution uses and semi-truck parking,” the city wrote on its Facebook page.

When the master plan for the area was created, data centers and industrial technologies were uses included in the zoning, though “they have become higher profile and more controversial,” according to a city news release.

The purpose of the upcoming workshops is “to discuss the future of retraining our workforce to respond proactively to this new technology and how the Star Innovation District can play a role, and finally, if there are criteria that the community could establish that would make a data center or industrial technology a viable use in the district.”

No decisions will be made or discussed at the workshops, and no proposals for a data center have currently been introduced at City Council or council committee meetings.

The city said in a news release that a real estate broker it is working with to develop the property has connections with the data center industry and has asked them to explore options.

At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Streit said city officials told the firm they wanted to hold discussions with the community before giving any answer.

Organized opposition

Despite no official action pending, many residents are already unhappy the idea of data centers is even being entertained.

A group, which has dubbed itself Porters Against Data Centers, announced this week it would hold a media event and rally at 6 p.m. in the LTHS East in the parking lot before Tuesday’s workshop.

The Porters Against Data Centers group created a Facebook page to promote its mission on May 19, and within 24 hours had over 100 members.

In their introductory posts in the group, residents cited the same concerns as residents in other Illinois communities where data centers have been approved: noise and air pollution, increased electrical rates, high water usage, impact on wildlife, improper use of personal data, and a lack of an overall benefit to the community.

Joliet approved a 700-plus-acre data center despite strong vocal opposition from many residents in March, while Yorkville said earlier this year it would stop proposals for more data centers after first approving three developments that generated strong resident opposition and even some lawsuits.

Construction trade unions have come out in support of these developments because of the hundreds of jobs that come with building them.

Plainfield has issued a moratorium on all data center proposals following the controversies in Joliet and Yorkville, and Oswego has said it is unlikely the village will ever have one.