Timeline to Google: From farmland to solar to high-tech – The Leaf-Chronicle
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – This is a timeline of significant milestones surrounding the former TVA megasite which will soon be home to a Google data center.
Paving the way
September 2002 – The Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Board arranges an option to buy the 1,000-acre Lawrence Teeter farm as property for industrial recruiting.
December 2006 – Property certified as a TVA megasite, a critical factor in recruiting large industry.
April 2008 – Clarksville megasite considered for a Volkswagen automotive plant.
May 2008 – Montgomery County formally purchases the Teeter property for $20 million to secure it for industrial prospects.
July 2008 – VW plant announced for Chattanooga. Leaf-Chronicle reports Dow Corning is considering Clarksville for a semiconductor plant.
Hemlock is coming
December 2008 – Announcement that Hemlock Semiconductor Group is planning a $1.2 billion polycrystalline silicon plant, initially employing 500 workers.
January 2009 – Regional Planning Commission approves site plan for plant. Core development will spread over 487 acres of the 2,152-acre project.
February 2009 – State of Tennessee to give Austin Peay State University $6.4 million to start a curriculum in chemical engineering. Plan includes a 20,000-square-foot facility at Eighth and College streets with a 4,200-square-foot lab, classrooms and faculty offices.
March 2009 – Ceremonial groundbreaking of Hemlock site.
April 2010 – New associate degree in chemical engineering technology approved for APSU.
September 2010 – Two-story, 20,068-square-foot chemical engineering building opens at APSU, with $2 million worth of equipment donated by Hemlock.
December 2010 – First group of Clarksville Hemlock operators travel to the Hemlock, Mich., plant for hands-on training.
May 2011 – Hemlock confirms it is negotiating with Tennessee officials on an incentive package for a potential $3 billion expansion of the Clarksville plant.
July 2011 – First spinoff plant, Praxair Inc., signs a multi-year contract with Hemlock to generate and supply high-purity liquid hydrogen. It will locate off Solar Way.
Hemlock’s decline
September 2011 – Hemlock assures local government and industrial officials that, despite rumors of delays, construction continues on pace toward a late-2012 launch.
March 2012 – Construction on the plant is about 87 percent complete. More than 300 of the 500 initial production employees have been hired.
September 2012 – Production launch delayed to early 2013.
January 2013 – Hemlock says it will delay its plans to open the plant; 300 of the 400 Clarksville employees will be laid off in the coming weeks.
March 2013 – Montgomery County EDC announces that by end of the year, Hemlock will take over debt payments on the $20 million the county borrowed to buy the land.
September 2014 – IDB accepts Hemlock donation of 833 acres that have been part of its property, to use for potentially recruiting another large employer sometime in the future.
December 2014 – Hemlock announces the Clarksville plant is permanently closed based on “sustained adverse market conditions created by industry oversupply and ongoing challenges presented by global trade disputes.”
June 2014 – Dismantling of Hemlock facilities is under way, and is expected to be complete by end of summer.
November 2015 – APSU announces it will remove “Hemlock Semiconductor” from the name of the engineering building named in the company’s honor.
Enter Google
October 2015 – The Leaf-Chronicle reports on a possible new suitor for the site.
Dec. 15, 2015 – The Leaf-Chronicle reports a development deal is in the works.
Dec. 21, 2015 – The Tennessean reports the site will become a Google data center, with an initial investment of more than $500 million and an estimated initial 70 full-time jobs. That same day, local governments approve measures involving with an undisclosed company, apparently Google, to move the deal forward.
