UMass Celebrates New Cranberry Station

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Members of the A.D. Makepeace Company team recently joined University of Massachusetts officials at a festive ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newly expanded and modernized UMass Cranberry Station, which plays an essential role in supporting cranberry growers and the state’s top commercially grown food crop.

The A.D. Makepeace Company had made a significant donation to the project in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the company’s incorporation.

“For many years, the success of the cranberry industry has been dependent on the work done here,” said Christopher Makepeace, company founder Abel D. Makepeace’s great grandson and a current member of the company’s Board of Directors. In front of the newly named Makepeace Meeting Room, Mr. Makepeace and Cranberry Station Director Hilary Sandler were joined by ADM President and CEO Jim Kane, CFO Lori Flannery, and Glenn Reid, Jim Pinkston, Alex Manchester, and Gavin Bartlett of the ADM cranberry leadership team.

At the main ribbon cutting, Robert Karam, chair of the ADM Board of Directors and former chair of the UMass Board of Trustees, joined UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and other dignitaries in praising the new facility.

The new and renovated facilities reflect the station’s position as the hub of cranberry research and extension for the commonwealth and beyond. Features of the updated facility include:

  • A new, two-story 5,000-gross-square-foot addition to the east of the administration building, attached by a two-level connector to the existing laboratory research space.
  • Two new research program laboratory facilities, two new preparation laboratories and the infrastructure to support three fully outfitted laboratories.
  • Addition of four new faculty offices as well as the relocation of the administrative offices to the new addition, with a new main public entrance and reception area.
  • A new meeting room, overlooking the station’s cranberry bogs, equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual connectivity.
  • Increased access via ramps and full-sized elevator.
  • Improvement of the station’s infrastructure, internet service and laboratory wastewater treatment and disposal.
  • A new septic system and new water and electrical services.
  • Complete upgrade to the HVAC system in the laboratory building.

An investment of $5 million in capital spending authorized in the 2018 Environmental Bond Bill and a $750,000 grant from the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance was used to modernize and expand the research facilities at the station. UMass Amherst committed approximately $2 million in additional funds for necessary deferred maintenance projects on the station.

 

ADM Preserves Thousands of Acres

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A new report shows that the A.D. Makepeace Company is preserving more than 2,250 acres of open space in Plymouth.

The report, prepared for the company by engineering consultant Beals & Thomas, was presented to the Plymouth Planning Board on April 12.

The report shows that the company has recorded 1,516 acres of conservation land to date, is advancing conservation restrictions for an additional 507 acres.

Additionally, about 230 acres of conservation land in the Redbrook area will be preserved, along with acres of open space within the Redbrook mixed-use community itself.

Some of the property is mitigation for development of the new village at Redbrook and was planned with state and local officials during the permitting process.

“We have worked closely with environmental experts to ensure that the protected property is of genuine environmental significance,” said Jim Kane, president and chief executive officer of the A.D. Makepeace Company. “This is legitimate habitat land whose value is amplified due to the proximity to the Myles Standish State Forest and other open space.”

Mr. Kane praised the regulators for their “researched and reasoned” approach to land conservation.

“Combined with more than 1,1000 acres preserved in Wareham, the conservation outcome here surpasses what was contemplated by environmental advocates some 20 years ago,” Kane said. In 2001, a coalition of environmental organizations asked the company to preserve 2,500 acres.

The 169-year-old A.D. Makepeace Company is developer of the award-winning Redbrook, North America’s largest cranberry grower, the largest private property owner in eastern Massachusetts, and a recognized leader in environmentally responsible real estate development and stewardship.