Data Center on Docket for Santa Barbara’s Earl Warren Showgrounds
Global Stack USA is considering a proposal to build an edge computing center at Santa Barbara’s Earl Warren Showgrounds, though the company has not yet presented the plan to the board. Community members are seeking more information, while similar proposals at other California fairgrounds have triggered protests and at least one board’s decision to stop communicating with the company.
Global Stack USA, a recently formed data center company led by Dan Kang, has contacted Earl Warren Showgrounds about potentially developing an edge computing center on the property. The proposed facilities would use shipping-container-sized units, occupy two to five acres, connect to the electric grid, and use closed-loop cooling that would not require connection to local water utilities. The company has proposed long-term land-use agreements under which fairgrounds would receive a share of revenue.
Earl Warren CEO Ben Sprague confirmed the contact but has not yet presented the proposal to the showgrounds board. The company appeared on the agendas for the board’s August 27 and October 8 meetings, but no public action was taken, and the October meeting lacked a quorum. Community members demanded answers about the proposal, while opposition has intensified at fairgrounds elsewhere in California; the Ventura County Fairgrounds board voted in September to cease communication with Global Stack after about 200 people protested.