Indian River State College details OKIE 1 cleanup, fiber and data‑center plans for Okeechobee site
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Summary
College officials told the county they received $1.5 million in state rural infrastructure funds to start demolition and remediation of the 205.5‑acre OKIE 1 site, described mitigation needs (wildlife habitat, asbestos, underground tanks) and said initial power capacity likely around 9 megawatts as they seek private partners.
Indian River State College officials told the Okeechobee County commission that work will begin soon at the 205.5‑acre OKIE 1 property the state transferred to the college, with demolition, environmental mitigation, and infrastructure steps planned before private partners are announced.
The college's representative, Mr. Treadwell, said the state granted $1.5 million in rural infrastructure funds to the college for initial work and that the college's district board of trustees has an "intent to award" a contract to begin demolishing dilapidated buildings. He said the transfer of land came without operational funding and that the college has been seeking additional state support and private capital to follow the initial funds.
Treadwell outlined environmental and remediation needs, including gopher tortoise burrows, Florida bonneted bats and other protected species, three underground storage tanks that require decommissioning, and multiple asbestos locations in buildings dating from 1955–1975. "We have set some of those funds aside to take care of the mitigation factors moving forward with demolition," he said.
On infrastructure, the presentation said the site is "fiber ready" with a fiber run to the historic gymnasium; Treadwell also reported engineering work indicating roughly 5–10 megawatts of power capacity, and said the college had confirmation of "9 megawatts available" from Florida Power & Light to begin with. He described the likely initial development as a modest (9–10 MW) data center or computing facility rather than a hyperscaler campus, with plans to pair training and workforce programs with any compute partner.
Treadwell described ongoing coordination with FPL and the Department of Commerce and said some site uses (training, state agency exercises) have continued while planning proceeds. Commissioners asked questions about power capacity, modular nuclear options, local patrols for security, and the timeline; Treadwell said demolition and initial site work would proceed under the $1.5 million allocation and the college would continue to seek further state and private funding.
Commission members welcomed the college's plans and asked staff to schedule a fuller presentation for the board and the public once a private partner is identified and more funding details are in hand.