North Pekin residents told old AMC theaters will not be data center
North Pekin residents opposed a rumored data center project at a former AMC theater site during a public meeting. The property owner and village president assured residents that the rezoning from retail to light industrial is not for a data center, but to make the property marketable for other uses. The rezoning vote is pending.
North Pekin residents voiced strong opposition to a potential data center development at the site of former AMC theaters, as reported by WEEK | 25 News Now. During a Monday night board meeting, many residents wore "NO Data Center" t-shirts, expressing concerns that a proposed rezoning of the property from retail to light industrial could pave the way for a future data center. This public outcry follows a previously shelved data center proposal in nearby Pekin that also faced community resistance.
Jeff Agan, managing member and sole owner of North 52, LLC, which purchased the property in December 2025, assured residents and 25News that he has no plans to develop a data center. Agan clarified that the rezoning aims to make the property more marketable for warehousing and small businesses, as movie theaters are no longer viable. Village President Steve Flowers further dismissed the data center rumors as baseless, stating that North Pekin lacks the logistical space for such a facility.
Despite these assurances, residents, some of whom had previously attended Pekin council meetings regarding data centers, emphasized their desire for transparency and written safeguards against future data center proposals. They raised concerns about the potential for further rezoning from light industrial to heavy industrial, which could accommodate large-scale data centers. The North Pekin Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to vote on the rezoning of the old AMC theaters on Tuesday, June 9.