A brief entry on Santa Barbara's Earl Warren Showgrounds agenda for Oct. 8 — "Global Stack" — was enough to unsettle residents already watching closely for signs of how the public event-space property could be used.
For many community members, the concern was not just the lack of explanation. It was the chance that the vague agenda label referred to a proposed 100-year deal connected to a data center on fairgrounds land.
In a statement to The Cool Down obtained after this article published, though, a representative said "Earl Warren Showgrounds unequivocally confirms that it will not consider a data center development on its property" and that "no such project is being pursued, nor will it be."
At the Oct. 8 meeting
According to the Santa Barbara Independent, only four of Earl Warren Showgrounds' seven board members were present on Oct. 8, so the board lacked a quorum and could not take action. But the agenda item still drew attention when community members noted that Global Stack USA has been pitching California fairgrounds on "edge computing centers" that would use about 2 to 5 acres provided free of charge through a 100-year service and land-use agreement.
In Global Stack's proposal, parking structures would hold container-scale data-processing units, with helipads above them. The company says fairgrounds would share in the profits, while Global Stack would privately pay construction and maintenance costs it estimates at $20 million per site.
During public comment, Katie Sanders said the agenda's lack of detail was troubling. "I was disturbed by the agenda, where it says Global Stack and nothing else. The public has really no idea what that means," she said.
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Earl Warren CEO Ben Sprague told the Independent that Global Stack had asked for a non-binding memorandum of understanding as a "prerequisite to further discussions." "Rather than proceed with a MOU, or discussions about a potential use of fairgrounds property, I felt the appropriate course was to bring the inquiry to the Board's attention," he said.
In a message to The Cool Down on Oct. 21, Earl Warren Showgrounds sought to clarify that it does not intend to entertain a proposal for a data center.
"Showgrounds leadership received the unsolicited inquiry but declined to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which would have been required before discussions regarding a potential project could advance," the organization said in a statement. "No meeting was held specifically to discuss Earl Warren Showgrounds hosting a data center."
The statement said that "the reference to Global Stack on previous Board agendas was included solely as part of the CEO's routine reporting of outside inquiries" and "did not represent a proposal initiated, endorsed or under consideration by Earl Warren Showgrounds," generally describing the situation as something that was interest brought to their attention and discussed rather than seriously entertained with any formal planning.
"We want to be absolutely clear: Earl Warren Showgrounds will not consider a data center on this property," said Showgrounds CEO Ben Sprague. "Our focus remains on preserving and strengthening the Showgrounds as a community asset, supporting agriculture and equestrian activities, recreation, public gatherings and emergency preparedness for generations to come."
Global Stack's California push
According to local reporting cited by the Independent, Global Stack officially registered in March 2026 and has approached at least 10 fairgrounds across California since July 2026 — from Napa to Del Mar — as it pursues a goal of building centers at 70 facilities by 2030.
The Ventura Star reported that about 200 people attended a protest over a possible Global Stack project at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, and that the board there later voted in September 2026 to stop communicating with the company.
The debate also comes amid growing concerns about artificial intelligence infrastructure and power demand. Data centers can support helpful tools, including systems for emergency communications or optimizing clean-energy networks, and Global Stack says its model could help during blackouts. At the same time, such facilities can increase electricity demand, strain local grids, raise utility costs, and introduce security or misuse concerns.
Global Stack says its units use a "closed loop" coolant system that doesn't connect to water utilities, though each 8-to-10-megawatt site would still connect to the electric grid.
Founder Dan Kang made his money through clothing manufacturing company MyDyer, which supplied LuLaRoe. The Independent noted that MyDyer received roughly $164 million in a 2024 LuLaRoe-related court fight before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2025 and Kang pivoted to data centers.
Editor's note: Following publish, this article was updated to include a statement from Earl Warren Showgrounds and a new quote from its CEO.
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