INDIANAPOLIS — The Jefferson Proving Ground – a former firing range and weapons test site in Madison that closed in 1995 – is 55,000 acres of multi-purpose land.
The military still uses the old bombing range. Hunters traverse the portion established as part of Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge. And volunteers care for Old Timbers Lodge, sitting on a 90-foot bluff and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Now 549 acres of the Jefferson Proving Ground may one day be converted to a data center: nine buildings totaling 7.1 million square feet and a consistent concern for the locals since it was first proposed…