Chronopin: upcoming release dates, events and other important dates

The Dauphin County General Authority approved the $45.6 million sale of Dauphin Highlands Golf Course in Swatara Township to a real estate group, Provident Realty, for land to build a data center. While officials emphasized that the sale will pay off the course’s $13 million debt and deliver long-term benefits to county residents, many community members voiced concerns about noise, water use, high utility costs, and limited job creation from the proposed development. The course will now only remain until Oct. 12. The sale also includes adjoining land in Steelton, and while the authority argued the purchase price was far above recorded land value, nearby residents and golfers expressed disappointment over the loss of one of the region’s best public courses. As of March 2026, Provident purchased 11 more parcels of land in the area valuing approximately $50 million. As of early September 2026, Corscale has been identified as the developer of this campus and an additional nearby data center campus proposal in Swatara Township, located on Highland Street. This second campus would feature two, two-story buildings. The total investment across both projects is ~$10.5 billion.

Blakely Borough officials have responded to the withdrawn AI data center proposal by advancing a zoning amendment that will tightly regulate any future projects of that kind. The Borough Council voted unanimously to advertise the amendment, which confines data centers to a specific overlay district in the northwest corner of town above Business Route 6 and west of Scott Road, extending to the borough’s border with Dickson City and Scott Township. The amendment makes data centers conditional uses within that district and imposes nearly three dozen requirements before approval, including environmental, health, and sound studies—covering both audible and low-frequency noise—conducted at the developer’s expense by qualified professionals selected by the borough. Data centers will be limited to 40 feet in height, prohibited from generating on-site power, and required to occupy at least 20 acres with setbacks of 300 feet from property lines and roads and 200 feet from water bodies or wetlands. Developers must receive electrical power exclusively from Blakely Borough Electric Light Company, reimburse the borough for all related engineering and service expenses, allow quarterly inspections, and participate in emergency response training while supplying any necessary fire-suppression equipment. Other requirements include implementing water-conservation technologies such as closed-loop cooling systems, submitting all state and federal environmental permits, and following strict fencing, lighting, and vegetation standards to minimize visual impact. The amendment also defines data centers and related infrastructure, regulates energy-storage facilities, and adds zoning for short-term rentals. A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for November 17 at the Borough Building, with council expected to vote immediately afterward. The developers of the proposed Blakely Data Center have withdrawn their application for a zoning change after being denied the chance to present revised plans at a public meeting. While the data center itself will no longer move forward, the property will still be developed under existing zoning rules. Planned work includes tree removal, construction of a meadow-style pad for material storage, and site remediation. The developers expressed regret over missed opportunities from the canceled data center project, which they said could have generated over $119 million annually in fees for Blakely Electric, more than $2.2 million in local property taxes, created around 500 construction jobs, offered permanent high-paying positions, and funded environmental improvements such as landfill removal and mine reclamation. A local businessman had sought to rezone roughly 121 acres in Blakely from R-1 low-density residential to allow an AI data center campus with four two-story, 70-foot-tall buildings totaling about 300,000 square feet and requiring up to 1.5 GW of power—equal to the output of the Lackawanna Energy Center. The site was once planned for residential and commercial use and would have been the fifth data center proposal in the Valley View School District. The land lies within a federal opportunity zone and is eligible for $7 million in mine land reclamation funding. Blakely operates its own electric distribution system and continues to evaluate feasibility for potential future development.

Dynamo DC is redeveloping the former 47-acre Cheswick Coal Plant site into a 652,300-square-foot AI data center. After months of review and mixed community response, Springdale Borough Council voted 5–2 to approve the project via a conditional use permit, as data centers are not explicitly addressed in the borough’s zoning code. In mid-December, the developer requested six zoning variances to exceed existing dimensional regulations and all were approved.

Provident Data Centers (through its affiliate Wampum I LLC) purchased the former Pittsburgh International Race Complex ("Pitt Race") for $50 million to develop data centers. Owners Jim and Kathy Stout announced the sale of the over 400-acre site in October 2025, and the beloved racing facility closed its doors a month later. Switch has since announced plans for a 382-acre data center campus on that same property, with Provident as landowner and Switch as the campus developer and operator. Big Beaver Borough has confirmed Switch's intention to develop the former Pitt Race property at 201 Penndale Road, though the company has apparently not yet submitted a formal application. The overall project cost is projected to be between $80-$200 million.