Photo by Eric Ayres Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron, left, and Mayor Denny Magruder attend the most recent meeting of Wheeling City Council earlier this month. Both city officials met briefly with representatives from Silicone Foundation earlier this spring after the company acquired the former Centre Foundry & Machine Company property along W.Va. 2 in Warwood.

WHEELING – In the wake of community unrest over a planned private development in Warwood associated with the data center industry, Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder on Thursday issued a public statement in order to clarify the city’s limited involvement with the venture so far.

Earlier this spring, Silicone Foundation purchased the 15-acre Centre Foundry property, along with the sprawling 60,000-square-foot building situated along W.Va. 2 on the south end of Warwood. The deed indicated that the four parcels of property connected to the former iron works factory were purchased for $1.5 million.

Information about the venture circulated early this week as the Silicone Foundation’s website and a LinkedIn page by its partner in the venture, South Carolina-based Stokes Energy Inc., both contained information about the project that gave the public the impression that a 100 megawatt data center was being planned for the facility.

This quickly led to public outcries and an impromptu town hall meeting in Warwood organized by W.Va. Del. Shawn Fluharty (D-Ohio), which packed the Warwood Veterans Association with concerned neighbors and city residents seeking answers about the impacts a new data center could have on the community.

Following the meeting, company official Andrii Garanin – who was overseas at a business conference in Munich, Germany – expressed his surprise and disappointment that publicity about the properties planned redevelopment had gone “sideways.” Garanin stressed that the company intends to develop modules at the site that are used in the data center industry. He also noted that he had discussed the company’s plans with city leaders and was “quite open” about their intentions.

On Wednesday, the mayor explained the background of that meeting this spring with the Silicone Foundation leadership.

“In recent days, there has been considerable discussion and confusion regarding the potential development of the Centre Foundry property in Warwood,” Magruder stated. “Approximately one month ago, the city manager and I met with Andrii Garanin of the Silicone Foundation for what was a very preliminary conversation about possibilities for the site.”

Prior to the pop-up town hall meeting in Warwood on Tuesday, Wheeling City Manager had stated that he and some other city leaders had a brief meeting with a representative from the new owners of Centre Foundry and were given a preliminary outline of their plans. He said they included the proposed development of a small data center at the site, along with a facility for possibly storing batteries used for the industry.

“At no point was a large-scale data center discussed, and to date, the city has not received any additional information, plans or documentation related to the property,” Magruder said. “Meetings and conversations of this nature occur regularly as the city engages with developers, organizations and other groups interested in exploring opportunities within our community.”

Garanin this week said that he would be happy to further discuss the companies plans for the facility and to hold a town hall meeting with the public in order to clarify Silicone Foundation’s development.

“Should any substantive information be submitted to the city in the future, it will be shared through the appropriate channels with the relevant stakeholders and the public,” Magruder noted.