EAST LANSING, Mich. - The new ownership of the historic Brook Lodge corporate retreat center near Augusta will be made official this week when Pharmacia Corp. turns proprietorship over to Michigan State University during dedication events at the facility.
MSU officials and Pharmacia representatives will dedicate the property on Wednesday, July 19, at 4:30 p.m. in the Conference Hall of Brook Lodge. Guests will have the opportunity to participate in a tour of the facility and a dedication reception and ceremony.
Pharmacia donated the facility to MSU as a conference resource center to serve the needs of southwest Michigan. Located just north of Augusta, between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, Brook Lodge comprises 80 acres of developed property. Pharmacia also donated 557 acres of largely undeveloped land contiguous to Brook Lodge that complement MSU's Kellogg Biological Station, Lux Arbor and Kellogg Forest properties. The total value of Pharmacia's gift to MSU is more than $7 million.
"MSU is excited to extend the Brook Lodge property to a larger audience including other public universities and colleges, research and public service organizations, private corporations and the public, all while preserving the historical connection of the property to the Upjohn family," MSU President Peter McPherson said.
"Pharmacia's gift of Brook Lodge and the adjacent land to MSU provides excellent educational opportunities and also enables the university to strengthen fulfillment of research and outreach missions."
Originally a retreat for the W.E. Upjohn family, Brook Lodge has been used since 1956 as a high-quality, private conference center. The 18-building facility includes 47 guest rooms, dining space for 125 and meeting rooms. The undeveloped portion of the land includes rolling hills, forests, meadows, wetlands and lakes, and its addition to MSU's current land holdings in the area will create one of the largest contiguous natural habitats in the Lower Peninsula.
"We're very pleased and excited by MSU's plans for stewardship and outreach at Brook Lodge," said Phillip Carra, Pharmacia's vice president of government affairs and public policy. "We're confident that it will be an increasingly valuable asset to Southwest Michigan."
Carra is one of several Pharmacia executives who will be attending Wednesday's dedication ceremony. McPherson will present Carra with a Williams Society Memento in honor of Pharmacia's support of MSU. Pharmacia Corp. is the first officially recognized donor in the Joseph R. Williams Society, MSU's new donor society that honors those who contribute $5 million or more to the university. The award is named after the first president of what was then the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan.
Pharmacia Corp. is a leading global pharmaceutical company created through the merger of Pharmacia and Upjohn with Monsanto Company and its G.D. Searle unit. Pharmacia Corp. has a broad product portfolio, a robust pipeline of new medicines, and an annual investment of more than $2 billion in pharmaceutical research and development.