A new plan to convert Pennhurst in East Vincent Township into a massive data center has outraged and mobilized local residents, as well as people in neighboring communities in an area known for rolling hills, farms and an overall rural character. An online petition urging Chester County neighbors and East Vincent Township officials to “work together toward a solution that preserves the Pennhurst property, honors its history, and protects the environment and quality of life for all who live, work and visit” has over 1,800 signatures. Pennhurst State School and Hospital was a center for people with developmental disabilities, and the site now operates as a Halloween attraction. Pennhurst’s owner, Pennhurst Holdings LLC, has not yet filed a formal application to develop the site, but an engineering firm has submitted a sketch of a preliminary plan to East Vincent to develop 125 acres for use as a data center. The sketch calls for five two-story data center buildings, a sixth building, an electrical substation, and a solar field. Together, the buildings to house data operations would total more than 1.3 million square feet. Township officials have agreed that a data center would be allowed in the industrial, mixed-use zoning district. In recent months, East Vincent officials have raced to draft an ordinance that would govern data centers by limiting building heights, mandating buffers, requiring lighting, noting the number of trees that can be cut down, and other restrictions. Officials said the draft ordinance was not specifically aimed at the Pennhurst site but was meant to broadly govern any data centers proposed in the township.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 10/13/2025