Meta Prometheus data center construction in New Albany, Ohio, has resumed following a November 2025 firearm incident. Turner Construction evacuated more than 1,000 workers after the incident. The project then returned to construction, keeping its 2026 operational target intact.
Meta is developing the facility as a gigawatt-scale artificial intelligence data center. The company says its New Albany facility will reach at least 1GW after construction.
The development forms part of New Albany’s expanding data center construction market. The city now hosts more than 40 facilities operated by multiple companies.
Meta Prometheus Data Center advances toward 1GW capacity
The data center is part of Meta’s investment in large-scale AI computing infrastructure. The company designed the facility to support intensive AI training and inference workloads.
Meta has identified New Albany as one of its facilities targeting at least 1GW of capacity. The company expects the facility to come online during 2026.
Turner Construction serves as the construction contractor for the project. New Albany’s project records identify Turner on several Meta buildings at the 1500 Beech Road campus.
The city’s records also show continued construction activity across Meta’s New Albany campus. Several buildings at the campus have different contractors and project specifications.
Meanwhile, Meta continues strengthening the energy infrastructure supporting its AI expansion. The company announced agreements involving existing nuclear plants serving Ohio’s regional power grid.
However, New Albany officials clarified that Meta is not building a nuclear plant within the city. The facility will draw electricity from the regional grid.
Meta Prometheus Data Center expands New Albany construction activity
New Albany has developed into a major data center construction location within central Ohio. The city says more than 15 companies now operate over 40 facilities.
Meta’s expansion forms part of this wider concentration of digital infrastructure. Amazon Web Services, Google and other operators also maintain facilities in the city.
The construction pipeline also creates substantial requirements for power, cooling, electrical systems and network infrastructure. Those systems support the increasingly demanding workloads associated with artificial intelligence.
Meta says its new AI-focused facilities use designs that can accommodate changing computing requirements. Its approach also includes cooling systems designed for current and future AI hardware.
The New Albany project therefore extends beyond conventional data center construction. Its planned capacity requires infrastructure capable of supporting large computing clusters.
Ohio’s data center construction pipeline also extends beyond New Albany. Amazon is pursuing a separate proposed campus near Trenton, Butler County.
The proposed $5 billion Amazon development covers about 601 acres across Madison and St. Clair townships. Plans call for 18 buildings totaling approximately 3.96 million square feet.
However, property owners withdrew the annexation petition for that development in September 2026. They retained the option to submit another petition later.
This separate project demonstrates the approval challenges surrounding large data center developments in Ohio. The Amazon proposal remains at the planning and annexation stage.
Meta’s New Albany development, meanwhile, has progressed much further through construction. The project continues toward its targeted 2026 operational milestone.
Meta Prometheus Data Center construction follows site security incident
The November 17, 2025 incident temporarily interrupted construction at the New Albany site. Turner said a recently terminated worker arrived and threatened a supervisor.
Security personnel secured the firearm before the individual left the site. Turner then evacuated more than 1,000 workers as a precaution.
Law enforcement responded after Turner notified authorities. Construction resumed after the temporary shutdown.
The incident did not change Meta’s announced 2026 target. Mark Zuckerberg had previously described Prometheus as a 1GW AI supercluster.
New Albany has also continued monitoring issues around active data center construction. In July 2026, the city received complaints about periodic noise from Meta’s campus.
The city said Meta began mitigation measures after construction removed a temporary sound wall. Meta planned to reconstruct the wall as construction approached completion.
These developments show the operational and construction considerations surrounding large AI infrastructure projects.
The project compliments other data centers Meta is currently working on such as their $1 billion optimized AI data center in Wisconsin.
Key Incident Summary
Incident Time: Early November, 2025.
Nature of Incident: The fired employee came back to the location and intimidated the supervisor with a gun.
Action Taken (Security): Security guards locked down the weapon; person ran out of the premises.
Short-term Response: Turner Construction moved over 1, 000 employees out.
Law Enforcement: In a precautionary measure, the authorities were alerted.
Freeze/Unfreeze/recovery: small; the work has already resumed, and no significant delays are anticipated.
Prometheus Data Center Key Statistics
Overall Capacity: 1 gigawatt (first in the world)
Type of Data Center: Next-generation infrastructure based on AI supercluster.
Strategic Advantage:
Chosen on the basis of high grid reliability.
Well-developed infrastructure in the area.
New Albany business friendly initiatives.
Project Significance
A first-of-its-kind data center of 1-gigawatts capacity with a world record.
Also funds multibillion-dollar investment by Meta through AI superclusters.
Enhances the status of New Albany as a trading center of high-tech digital services.
The next generation AI systems and large-scale computing workloads at Meta are dependent on it.
Is also being regarded as a vote of trust in the economic and infrastructural situation in the city.
Significance of Meta’s Prometheus Data Center Once Completed
Meta’s data center is expected to be of monumental significance once complete. It will be the world’s first one-gigawatt data center. Prometheus is also expected to be a supercluster, a type of data center known for its massive size and capacity. These centers are able to power next-generation AI infrastructure and have a higher capacity than any data center currently built, including emerging gigawatt-scale campuses such as Meta’s new Beaver Dam project in Wisconsin. However, companies like OpenAI and Google are also planning gigawatt-capable centers. Zuckerberg said Meta is investing billions in AI superclusters. In a statement, New Albany called Meta’s investment a “vote of confidence” in New Albany’s business-friendly initiatives.
A spokesperson for Meta confirmed New Albany’s business initiatives helped them choose the city for this project. Meta also said it chose New Albany for its first gigawatt-capable site because of its access to infrastructure and reliable grid. Prometheus’ sister supercluster, Hyperion, will have up to five gigawatts capacity and is under construction in Louisiana. Furthermore, Hyperion will take up the same land area as much of Manhattan, and will be the largest data center in the Western Hemisphere.
Project Fact Sheet
Name: Meta Prometheus Data Center
Value: Approximately $1.5 billion
Location: New Albany, Ohio, United States
Developer: Meta Platforms, Inc.
Type: Gigawatt-scale AI data center
Planned capacity: At least 1GW
Target opening: 2026
Construction contractor: Turner Construction
Primary campus location: Beech Road, New Albany
Construction status: Construction resumed
Main purpose: Artificial intelligence computing infrastructure
Energy supply: Regional electricity grid
Nuclear generation: No nuclear plant planned within New Albany
Associated power strategy: Meta agreements supporting existing nuclear generation
Construction incident: November 2025 firearm incident
Workers evacuated: More than 1,000
Project Team
Developer: Meta Platforms, Inc.
Construction contractor: Turner Construction
Local authority: City of New Albany
Data center operator: Meta Platforms
Energy supply: Regional electric grid
Nuclear energy partners: Vistra and associated Ohio nuclear facilities
Architect: Not publicly identified for the complete Prometheus campus
Engineering consultant: Not publicly identified for the complete campus
Electrical contractor: Not publicly identified for the complete campus
Mechanical contractor: Not publicly identified for the complete campus
Specialist contractors: Not publicly identified
Construction management: Turner Construction
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