August 12th, 2026 The Fairfield community held a town hall at The Fairfield Civic Center for residents to ask questions about a proposed data center that could be built inside the city’s former Walmart. In attendance were city officials and the company developers proposing the data center, Patmos.
Patmos Hosting, Inc. is a privately owned technology infrastructure and data center company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded by current CEO, John Johnson. The company provides cloud hosting, colocation, high-performance/AI computing, software and other technology infrastructure.
Patmos’ proposal in question is an $150 million data center to fill the vacant site. The project would initially require roughly 20 megawatts of electricity, with plans to scale up to 45 megawatts by 2028. Alabama Power would supply the electricity and during hot weather conditions, the initial phase is expected to use approximately 10,000 gallons of water per day.
With these reports of the data center will require to run, Fairfield residents are rightfully concerned and demanding developments to come to a halt. The civic center was filled with hundreds of angry residents that expressed their disinterest in a data center coming to their neighborhood.
Some residents had complaints about the process of the town hall itself, citing that it was rushed with little notice ahead of time. Concerns over accessibility were also noted as residents were instructed to submit their questions ahead of the town hall via email. Some also expressed concern that submitting questions in advance limited the ability of the community to ask follow-up questions or raise concerns directly during the meeting.
This limitation follows Fairfield’s own temporary moratorium (passed July 2026) on future data center projects. However, Patmos’ proposal was already in motion before the moratorium was passed so it was not covered by the pause.
Despite the barriers, important questions were still raised about any potential health and environmental impacts, water usage, noise, and additional utility costs. Like most developers, Patmos has pointed to new jobs and economic investment in Fairfield. Still, many residents made it clear that development should not come at the expense of their health, quality of life, or ability to have a say in decisions affecting their community.
Residents are encouraged to attend further community meeting as they arise and demand answers to all of their questions no matter how they submit them. It is important that Fairfield remains resilient as the proposal is under consideration. If approved, development could start as early as September 2026.
Any community deserves transparency and meaningful opportunities to participate when major developments are proposed in their neighborhoods. As the project moves through the city’s approval process, GASP will continue to provide any updates, information, and resources to assist community members.