A 16-building data center campus has been proposed for the site of a former dynamite factory in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.

Maryland-based developer Stonebridge Associates is seeking to build the campus at the Powder Mills Site, a 569-acre land parcel off Route 551, at 3478 Howard Drive and McClelland Avenue in Lawrence County.

It has filed for preliminary planning consent with both North Beaver and Mahoning Townships, as well as with Lawrence County officials. Half the site is in North Beaver, with the other half in Mahoning.

The land was previously owned by American Cyanamid, which used the site for manufacturing powders, including nitroglycerine-based explosives and dynamite. It closed in 1972. Now it could be home to a data center if Stonebridge gets its way.

The company wants to build 16 data center-related buildings, as well as an electricity substation. The proposed IT capacity of the development has not been revealed, but Stonebridge said in its application that utility firm Penn Power would supply electricity to the site.

Stonebridge said it intends to spend more than $15 billion on the campus, suggesting a hyperscale-ready development could be on the cards. It said the project will create 3,000-4,000 jobs across construction and permanent roles, and that it would take up to six years to build.

It could potentially use grey water recycled at the nearby Mahoning sewer plant. Remedial work would need to be carried out on the land before work can start on the data center, owing to its former industrial uses.

Interest in the data center planned for the old dynamite factory has been blowing up among residents of the area in recent weeks, with a petition against the scheme collecting 170 signatures at the time of writing.

A public meeting will take place next Monday, July 20, so people can speak to the developers about the project.

If preliminary planning permission is granted, Stonebridge will have to return with detailed plans for approval by local officials. The company is a property developer, specializing in residential and commercial projects, that has recently expanded into data centers. It is also planning a campus in Fort Meade, Florida.

Pennsylvania has attracted a host of data center developments in recent months, and DCD took an in-depth look at the digital infrastructure market in the state in issue 60 of DCD>Magazine.