The facts, as filed.
A public college, a complicated site.
Indian River State College — a public institution serving the Treasure Coast — is proposing Okee-One as a hybrid facility: both an operating data center and a learning laboratory for students in technology, cybersecurity, electrical systems, welding, and HVAC programs. College spokesperson Howard Matzner has described the project as a workforce development initiative, framing it around career pathways for Okeechobee residents and hands-on learning opportunities for students.
The proposed 9–10 MW capacity is roughly 5% the size of Palm Beach County's Project Tango. At that scale, Okee-One is closer to a mid-size traditional data center than a hyperscale facility. College officials have said they are working to identify operating partners who will align with the educational mission. The project received a $1.5 million grant from Gov. DeSantis's administration, which is the funding that brought it to public attention.
The site is unusual. The 205-acre parcel was once the Florida School for Boys at Okeechobee, a state reform school where children were subjected to documented physical abuse by state employees. The emotional weight of that history has shaped early public comment periods: some residents have welcomed the idea of converting the site into workforce training infrastructure, while others have questioned whether a data center is the right use of land with this history. The site is being reclaimed, regardless of what gets built there. What gets built — and by whom — is the open question.
At the April 2026 Okeechobee County Board of Commissioners meeting, about seven residents spoke against the proposal. A woman named Lee said: "What's in it for us? I have been doing some reading on my own and I have concerns about expansion plans for the center once it's done. Are we attempting to draw in more tech industry to the area? Let alone the electrical concerns... I don't see an upside." Another resident said she was there for her children: "I'm mostly just here for my children to say that, just keep in mind the impacts that we're making on the environment and the humans that live nearby these things."
For Okeechobee County residents.
The scale question
A 9–10 MW facility has a very different footprint than a 1,200 MW hyperscale campus. Traditional data centers — office-park-size, with footprints that fit inside existing buildings or industrial parks — produce noise, emissions, and water demand at much lower levels than hyperscale campuses. Okee-One, if built as described, falls closer to that traditional category. The concern residents have raised is expansion plans — whether 10 MW is the endpoint or the starting point. The college has not publicly committed to a capacity cap.
The operator question
Indian River State College is the developer of record but not the operator. The college has publicly said it is looking for partners. Who operates Okee-One — a hyperscaler like Amazon or Oracle, a smaller commercial operator, or the college itself — will determine the workforce impact, the energy usage, and the traffic generated. Residents pressing for operator transparency have a legitimate basis: a public institution receiving state funding for the project should, in theory, be more accountable for disclosure than a private developer using Florida's public records shield.
The site history
The former Florida School for Boys at Okeechobee operated as a state reform school where children faced physical abuse by state employees. The emotional and political weight of the site will shape any use of it. Survivors and their families have been consulted on some reclamation projects at the separate, better-known Dozier School for Boys site in Marianna. Whether any similar consultation process is built into Okee-One's planning is not publicly clear as of mid-April 2026.
Reporting we relied on.
- WFLX / WPTV — April 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting coverage, resident interviews
- South Florida Regional Planning Council — regional data center proposal tracking
- Indian River State College — official statements from spokesperson Howard Matzner
- Baxtel / Data Center Map — project geography and specifications
- Okeechobee County Board of Commissioners — meeting minutes and agendas