UMass Cranberry Station opens $8 million expansion
Apr 23, 2023
State politicians, cranberry executives and university officials cut the ribbon in front of the station’s new expansion. Photos by: Sean Flannelly
The new expansion contains administrative and meeting room space, as well as four new laboratories.
The new expansion, lower left, attaches to the white laboratory building of the Cranberry Station.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst opened an $8 million expansion to its Cranberry Research Station in East Wareham on Friday, April 21.
The station is a place for research and outreach to assist the Massachusetts cranberry industry.
The expansion, which received funding from the state in 2020, includes four new laboratories, four new faculty offices, a new public entrance and a new meeting room named after the A.D. Makepeace Company. Along with these new features, the expansion made infrastructure improvements to the entire facility.
“This building is going to be a game changer for us,” said Cranberry Station Director Hilary Sandler. “It’s going to allow us to hire and attract great scientists to come and tackle some of the issues and challenges for the Cranberry Station. It’s invigorated everyone... from the growers to the people who work here.”
Politicians such as State Representative William Straus, who also serves as co-chair of the Cranberry Station Oversight Board, joined cranberry executives and university representatives in opening the building.
The original Cranberry Station was built in 1911, after the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association petitioned the state legislature for funding.
