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Data centers in Talladega County, Alabama: 1 project mapped
The land Childersburg is offering for a data center once made explosives for World War II and heavy water for the Manhattan Project. The site on the Coosa River, handed to the city by the federal government in 2003, was put on the EPA's national priorities list for cleanup in 1987. Mayor Ken Wesson says a hyperscale data center could finally put it to use. "This property was used to develop a weapon of mass destruction," he said, "and so I want it to now be converted to something that leads to growth for our community, jobs and a future for our children."
Wesson told Inside Climate News in January 2026 that the project would be a $6 billion, 500-megawatt data center with glycol-based cooling, that the city had signed a purchase service agreement for 486 acres of the industrial park at about $17 million pending the developer's site assessment, and that it could bring about 220 permanent jobs. He identified the developer as WHP Development, possibly Western Hospitality Partners, whose 600-megawatt Project Lincoln in Georgia was canceled, downscaled and moved after local opposition; its representative at the council meeting declined to name the company. In January the council unanimously amended the industrial park's zoning to list data centers as a permitted use and authorized a right-of-entry agreement for site work.
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Residents want more than the mayor can give them. "These often start with NDA or confidentiality agreements. It's very worrisome," Noah Beckham said in February, adding that he feared depleted water, high emissions and "loud electric hums." By April, "No Data Center" signs were appearing in yards. Wesson has been candid about the gaps: "I wish I knew more about data centers," he said in February, and in April said water use could not be estimated until the cooling type was known.
Any sale of city land requires an ordinance, Wesson said, and the site's suitability depends on a continuing groundwater investigation; he said contamination readings were "getting pretty close to normal." Western Hospitality Partners has not confirmed publicly that it is the developer. In neighboring Shelby County, a similar secrecy fight has played out in Columbiana, where a former mayor's undisclosed NDA left his successor unable to stop a data center expansion.
Data center projects on record in Talladega County
Grouped by the town each site sits in. The report above may name projects that have no record here yet.
Childersburg1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Childersburg Industrial Park Data CenterChildersburg | WHP Development | Proposed | 500 MW |
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Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.