Foxconn Technology Group on Thursday released a new rendering of its planned high-performance computing data center in Mount Pleasant and said it plans to begin construction on it later this year.
The company had previously submitted plans to the village for the data center that featured a spherical building that drew comparisons to Spaceship Earth at the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando or the Mitchell Park Domes in Milwaukee.
Shortly after the plans were first released, however, Foxconn said it was putting them on hold while it considered other design options. Instead, the company said it would move forward with plans for a 260,000-square-foot smart manufacturing center.
In a statement released Thursday, Foxconn said it had released a new rendering of the data center to the village.
The new rendering still features the spherical dome.
“Once completed, the HPCDC will serve as a resource center for Data Colocation, SaaS and other high-performance computing opportunities that enables the development of core technologies in a variety of markets such as manufacturing, health care, safety and agriculture,” the statement said.
Foxconn’s plans for its Mount Pleasant campus have evolved significantly since they were first announced in 2017. Originally, the company planned to build 22 million square feet of facilities, including a Gen 10.5 LCD fabrication facility to make the largest television screens.
The current plans call for a nearly 1 million-square-foot Gen 6 plant that provides the company with more flexibility in choosing which products to produce. Crews began installing the roof on that facility this week.
“The vertical construction of the nearly 1 million square-foot Gen 6 Fab cements Foxconn’s commitment to the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park,” the company statement said.
Foxconn’s plans for the campus have increasingly shifted away from producing televisions toward bringing new technology to the region. Executives say that new technologies will allow the company to establish business lines, build revenue and ultimately create jobs.
The company has to ultimately create 13,000 jobs to earn the $3 billion in incentives Wisconsin offered to lure the project to the state.
Foxconn has announced two products that it plans to manufacturer at the campus, Briggo coffee kiosks and home security systems for Qolsys.
“This high-performance computing capability will further attract business partnerships within the WVSTP, driving job creation and economic development,” the Foxconn statement said.
The company also said the data center, “will be equipped with facility space for modular components and enhanced building specifications such as geothermal heating systems. This further shows Foxconn’s commitment to be an environmental steward of the state where the company has decided to call its North American home.”
