Growth and Expansion

Construction on the new Maynard W. Quimby Medicinal Plant Garden is complete and we have moved to our new location just west of our current facility which will provide an opportunity for us to consolidate and streamline our daily production activities, as well as, provide an opportunity to occupy one of the first LEED ‘Silver’ Certified buildings on the UM Campus.

The garden is excited about this new facility and the chance to do our part in contributing to the University’s efforts to go Green. The approval of the building’s untraditional design exemplifies their commitment to this effort. The design will allow rainwater to be captured and stored for use in greenhouse watering, and the use of living “green screens” will provide sun shading along the buildings exterior. The interior will feature occupancy sensored lighting throughout, a triad recycling receptacle, and the utilities will be monitored by ultra-modern smart meters.

Careful planning in locating the buildings, within the site, minimized tree removal. We saved over 200 trees, that will remain in a 2 acre natural forest area, for future research on medicinal plants in this type of habitat. The site also contains a small .25 acre pond that was saved with hopes of future development for research on aquatic medicinal species. The new site will allow us to display our plants in a taxonomically correct, more visually appealing arrangement.

This new facility will provide the basis for the Medicinal Plant Garden to continue to improve its contributions to research while expanding its efforts to develop educational programs that will promote knowledge, understanding, and preservation of medicinal plants for the University, the local community, and the surrounding areas.

The new facility was dedicated on Wednesday, April 17, 2013.