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.