Earl Warren CEO calms fears of data center at showgrounds

The rumors are heating up.

But Ben Sprague, CEO of Earl Warren Showgrounds, wants to cool things down.

Sprague told the News-Press that the California Department of Food and Agriculture contacted him to set up a meeting with Global Stack USA, regarding a project the company had been pitching to fairgrounds around the state.

Sprague met with a representative of Global Stack and a representative from the Department of Food and Agriculture. At the meeting he learned about the company’s land-lease pitch, and Global Stack requested to enter a memorandum of understanding (MOU) before proceeding with discussions.

“I did not engage in an MOU,” Sprague said. 

At the end of October, the Earl Warren Showgrounds board of directors will hear an informational item regarding a meeting between the CEO of the showgrounds Ben Sprague, and Global Stack USA, an infrastructure development company which builds shipping-container sized data centers.

He also said he did not know what the pitch was for prior to the meeting.

Rather than continuing discussions, he put the item on the agenda under the CEO report to present the information from Global Stack to the board of directors.

Community outrage erupted following the agenda item listed as “Global Stack” under the CEO Report at two of the previous Earl Warren Showgrounds board of directors meetings.

Global Stack USA is an Orange County based company. The company aims to present infrastructure proposals at up to 70 fairgrounds around California. The company pitches building data centers along with parking lots and landing pads on fairground property.

Their pitches also usually involve a 100-year land lease for 2-5 acres of the property.

The item raised fears that a data center could be coming to the showgrounds, and has yet to be addressed at a board meeting.

The recent commotion echoed similar fears spurred from a Global Stack USA proposal for the Ventura County Fairgrounds about a month ago.

Sprague said that the board wasn’t able to get to the Global Stack agenda item at the last board meeting. 

He clarified that the item is an informational one and no action has been taken yet.

In a statement Sprague shared with the News-Press, he said that “Earl Warren has made no commitment to or no endorsement of the proposal.”

At the next meeting, he will present the information from the meeting with Global Stack and his decision not to enter an MOU or begin discussions. 

Ventura County Fairgrounds rejected Global Stack

This comes just over a month after the Ventura County Fairgrounds board of directors voted to end a memorandum of understanding with Global Stack USA instead of moving forward on a similar proposal.

At that board meeting, the CEO of Global Stack, Dan Kang, presented a concept plan for the fairgrounds involving a vertiport, a parking structure and a self-contained data processing unit.

The proposal also included a 100-year land lease for five acres of waterfront property.

Dozens of community members opposed the proposal during public comment, which lasted for over two hours.

Sprague said that he has never met Kang. 

Sprague, who grew up in Santa Barbara, said, “I’d like to see it stay the most amazing place that it is.”

However, Sprague said he can not publicly comment on the proposal—or what action the board might take—before the next board meeting. 

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