The Village of Grayslake announced it was holding a special public comment session for discussion on a mega data center campus, only for officials to cancel the meeting after saying they were concerned about social media threats.
The Grayslake Village Board was set to hold the “one-time extended public comment session” at 6 p.m. Thursday for the public to speak on the approved T5 @ Chicago IV data center campus.
The session, which was announced Monday, was going to be held at the University Center of Lake County in Grayslake in the Great Room.
A short background presentation was planned with the public invited to provide their thoughts on the approved data center campus.
Special public safety measures were set to be in place at the meeting, along with all future board meetings, due to “ongoing law enforcement concerns” and “recent information.”
The measures will include pre-entry screening for meeting attendees and a prohibition on bags, backpacks and other similar items inside the village hall during board meetings.
The village announced on Wednesday that it was “regretfully” postponing the extended public comment session due to safety concerns.
The University Center of Lake County informed the village that it could no longer host the meeting.
“Recent social media posts, and other information, over the past 24 hours have raised safety concerns about the session. Area law enforcement agencies have expressed similar concerns. The wellbeing of our residents remains a top priority,” the village said.
“We thank the community for its patience as we assess the situation and determine next steps,” the village added.
Officials released screenshots of comments on social media that they say caused concern.
Lake County PSL posted a video on Instagram calling to stop the T5 data center. The video showed the village’s Tuesday board meeting.
The organization said residents packed the meeting to speak out against the data center. “Residents also condemned attempts by officials to suppress the growing mass movement. Attendees had to go through a metal detector. Speakers during public comment were not given a microphone.”
Some of the comments posted on the video said, “We need to bring back tar and feathering,” and “Bring back public executions for corrupt tyrants.”
Another commenter said, “Start going to their houses and hang them and burn them down watch how fast this chages tune and beat. Voices don’t matter buy ammo and buy lots of ammo.”
A group of Lake County residents has filed a lawsuit to block the 472-acre data center campus in Grayslake, which they call a project of “unprecedented scale” that was given approval without adequate public disclosure.
The Preservation of Community Well-being Collective LLC and nine residents of Lake County filed the suit on July 31 in Lake County Circuit Court.
The legal action challenges the Village of Grayslake’s approvals of the T5 @ Chicago IV data center campus.
The lawsuit complaint names the Village of Grayslake, T5 Data Centers, LLC, and Alter Asset Management Company as defendants.
It asks the court to declare the 2024 to 2025 approvals invalid, to void the development agreement between the village and T5 Data Centers and to permanently enjoin the village from issuing further permits in reliance on the approvals.
The T5 @ Chicago IV campus, as approved by the Grayslake Village Board between September 2024 and May 2025, calls for up to 472 acres of development, more than 10 million square feet of buildings and an electrical demand of approximately 1.55 gigawatts of power supplied by ComEd, with associated diesel backup generation infrastructure.
The data center will be located in Cornerstone, a $750 million, 641-acre mixed-use development near Peterson Road and Alleghany Road. Alter Asset Management Company is the master developer of Cornerstone and an affiliate of The Alter Group, which is the owner of the development.
An initial status hearing in the lawsuit has been set for 9 a.m. on October 30 in Lake County Courtroom 301.