For roughly the last two years, the fish hatchery on East Plumtree Road in Sunderland sat more or less sidelined, a sad reminder of the past.

The property had first served for roughly 30 years as an important site for hatching trout eggs to help repopulate the area’s waterways. Then, for the following 30 years it had been one of the hatcheries for the federal effort to restore the Atlantic salmon in the Connecticut River.

But when the plug was pulled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on that effort, because of costs and the inability to restore salmon to the river in significant and steady numbers, the hatchery, officially known as the Richard Cronin National Fish Hatchery, was idled. That’s no longer the case.

Through a collaborative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) and the University of Massachusetts, the hatchery is seeing new life as the Richard Cronin Aquatic Resource Center, where the initial focus will be on endangered freshwater mussel species as well as the puritan tiger beetle populations.

Also, the center will provide educational opportunities for students from the Five Colleges system and elsewhere.

“We are helping to develop techniques for state agencies and wildlife managers to use for mussel conservation,” said Allison Roy, assistant unit leader of fisheries with the USGS Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. “Mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of fauna in the Northeast. We have one federally endangered species and several state species of concern.”

The research is underway as students and others this summer have been investigating what conditions are best for mussel growth and survival. This includes using fish hosts for the microscopic larvae known as glochidia that comes from fertilized mussel eggs. Under the right conditions, the glochidia leave their hosts. If they land in a favorable habitat, a mussel bed is created.

This all sounds like plenty of work but it is worth it, given the role the mussels, sometimes called freshwater clams, play in the ecosystem.

It’s clear that plenty of people are enthusiastic about what’s happening in Sunderland. It’s a feeling that should be shared by the community at large, seeing this historic hatchery gain new purpose.