The Ypsilanti Township board of trustees has formally re-established the township’s opposition to the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory supercomputing facility after U-M confirmed its purchase of a 124-acre parcel on Textile Road.
A Township Board resolution, adopted during a special township meeting March 31, 2026, mirrors concerns raised by several members in the community that the facility, which has been widely referred to as a data center, will decrease the quality of life of Ypsilanti Township residents. Commonly cited concerns include economic, medical and national security risks to locals, particularly those in racial minority demographics, as well as the environmental impact.
Paul Corliss told The Echo in a written statement on April 3 that “The University of Michigan is aware of Ypsilanti Township’s recently passed resolution declaring opposition to 'Los Alamos National Laboratory siting a nuclear research facility anywhere in Ypsilanti Township.'” Corliss is the assistant vice president for public affairs and internal communications at U-M.
The statement continued by saying, “As we have previously stated, the proposed facility is a high-performance computational research center designed to support advanced research in areas such as medicine, climate science, energy and national security. It is not a nuclear weapons facility and would not involve the storage or handling of hazardous materials. Further, the characterization of the yet-to-be-built facility as a ‘Tier 1 High Value Target Risk’ is not supported by facts.”
The $1.25 billion nuclear research site planned for a 144-acre location on Textile Road has continued to be a point of contention between developers and local officials in Ypsilanti Township.
Since 2024, the University of Michigan and the Los Alamos National Laboratory have made some details of their two planned computing facilities known, but Ypsilanti Township locals and officials have repeatedly said that there is not enough transparency, and some of the details that are available have sparked backlash in the community. Corliss said that “U-M will continue to seek and consider input from local community members as it relates to the proposed project,” but the university has not publicly stated that it will consider outright abandoning its plans after hearing past feedback from the community.
LANL has confirmed that nuclear research will be a key purpose of the federal research facility, among other scientific pursuits in fields like healthcare, energy and autonomous driving technology. U-M is planning a second facility on the property for non-classified academic research.
LANL and U-M have rejected the categorization of the facilities as data centers on the grounds that the technology being used is technically and logistically different, but many locals remain unconvinced.
"I think it's funny," Ypsilanti Township resident Samantha Stewart told The Echo. "First they're calling it a high-performance computing facility, and now they're trying to call it a supercomputer research center. I don't know what their PR department is going to come up with next, but I think it'll be equally ridiculous."
Stewart has been involved with a local activist movement called the Stop the Data Center, which she says has united an ideologically diverse group of people opposed to the project.
"I think one thing that's really cool about this story for me is the power of the people," she said. "This onslaught of data centers feels almost inevitable. It feels like there's nothing we can do about it. But the campaign so far has already had some big wins. The Township Board started out being 100% pro-data center, and now they're passing these ordinances against the data center.”
Ypsilanti Township initially supported the facility location being changed to a 300-acre property previously owned by General Motors Hydramatic, but has since changed its stance to oppose the facilities being built anywhere in the township at all in its newest resolution.
From the University of Michigan’s perspective, the shift has seemed like a moving of the goalposts. “We value our relationship with the township and respect the role of local officials, as well as the importance of community input in this process,” Corliss said in his statement. “At the same time, we are disappointed by this change in position. Township leaders had previously indicated support for this project — both publicly and privately — and specifically encouraged the university to focus on the proposed Willow Run site in Ypsilanti Township. Our process has been responsive to that input, and we continue to evaluate both Willow Run and the Textile Road property in the township as part of an active due diligence process.”
Local officials have repeatedly encouraged the site owned by the Willow Run Arsenal for Democracy as an alternative to the Textile Road location, but have typically stopped short in those instances of publicly endorsing the computing facility itself.
Stumbo said during a Feb. 2026 U-M regents meeting that having the facility at the Willow Run location would be a “win-win for everyone.”
A March 18, 2026, statement from U-M following the Textile Road 124-acre purchase said that the purchase does not represent a final decision on where the facility will be built.
“The project remains in an active due-diligence phase, with no final site selected,” the statement said. “Following an extensive initial review, the university is evaluating the Textile Road site, and a site at the Willow Run complex, at the request of Ypsilanti Township officials. Both locations meet the technical and infrastructure requirements for this type of facility.”
Ypsilanti township trustees have repeatedly said that they were originally told by U-M that the facility would be significantly smaller.
"It was: 200 jobs on site, on 20 acres at $200,000 a year [in] salaries," Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo told The Echo. Stumbo described a lack of transparency from the beginning, which has contributed to mistrust.
"It started with a lie," Stumbo said. "Because they were simultaneously negotiating to purchase another additional 124 acres next to the property that's separated by a driveway that enters our South Hydro Park."
Stewart and Stumbo both cited the ongoing war in Iran as a reason for heightened concern in recent weeks.
"This is something that people bring up all the time," said Stewart, while talking about her experience canvassing door-to-door about the issue. She later added that "It puts a target on our back for something that we want no part in. I think the people of Ypsilanti do not have particular beef with the people of Iran. And we don't want to be part of the machine that is killing children over there."
Several community members at the meeting advocated for various ways to fight back, including passing ordinances to restrict noise pollution and resource usage and several communications strategies to increase awareness. One public commenter suggested regulatory restrictions on DTE, which has been actively involved in the planning of the project and has been designated the original 20 acres for the development of a new substation for the facilities.
Douglas Winters, an attorney who serves as legal counsel for the township, said during the March 31 meeting that U-M may not even be aware of what will occur inside the second facility, which is designated for confidential federal research.
"I cannot believe that during my lifetime … there has been such a complete sellout at the state level to such a degree where they are willing to put a bullseye target on this community," Winters said. "And I'm not just saying Ypsi Township. I would feel the same way if the Los Alamos [National Laboratory] decided today that they wanted to go to Ann Arbor."
As frustration with the lack of support from Michigan officials has grown, Ypsilanti locals have turned to the LANL's hometown for insights. Winters said that after talking to experts from the Los Alamos region, he believes the U-M facility will be used to gather data for nuclear weapons strategy.
In a previous interview with The Echo, Patrick Fitch, deputy director for science, technology and engineering at LANL, said that the research done by the federal facility in Ypsilanti Township will be computational work. He confirmed that the simulation and computational research conducted in the facility will inform LANL's nuclear weapons program.
"We haven't found this level of support in Michigan that we have found in New Mexico," Winters said. "That's embarrassing. Think about that. You have a governor that won't support us. You have senators that won't support us. The people in Congress won't support us. And we're looking to people in New Mexico to warn us, 'don't do this.'"
In December 2024, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer applauded the U-M and LANL project for its economic impact in a statement.
“The project anticipates creating at least 200 knowledge-economy jobs paying nearly $200,000 plus benefits for a full-time employee,” the statement said.
U-M is responsible for $830 million of the funding for the project, while LANL has pledged $300 million. In Dec. 2024, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation approved a $100 million grant to further support its development. State Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr. introduced a bill to cancel this funding, but it has stalled in Lansing.
"At some point in time, you can either be a victim, or you can be an unwilling victim," Winters said during the meeting. "I think the township tonight is telling the whole world, so to speak, that we're going to be an unwilling victim. We're not going to lay down. We're not going to sell out ... We're not going to do any of that foolishness so you can have your way and destroy our community and forever stigmatize Ypsilanti Township as being a federal nuclear research facility."
