Two significant dates for the Hyder-Burks Agricultural Pavilion closely parallel two career milestones for Donald Elkins, dean of the College of Agriculture and Human Ecology.

When he took his post as dean in 1995, we had just hosted a dedication ceremony for the new pavilion. When he retires next month, the facility will have just marked its 10th anniversary.

“I felt honored to be invited to the dedication," says Elkins. "It was such an impressive ceremony, and I remember thinking to myself at its conclusion that I had made a great decision by accepting this position."

Named for the late state Sen. Tommy Burks and former Animal Science Professor W. Clyde Hyder, the pavilion consists of a main arena and the smaller Harrison Sales Arena, with a multipurpose room that can be divided into meeting rooms and classrooms and a stall barn for tying animals.

It was meant to be used for both academic and community activities — and it’s more than lived up to both purposes, Agriculture faculty members say.

“You name it – every kind of activity you can imagine — and it’s been held out there,” says Professor Ben Byler, who was director of the School of Agriculture when the pavilion opened.

The largest single event held at Hyder-Burks was the 1998 funeral of Sen. Tommy Burks, who helped the university gain state funding for the construction of the $5 million facility. Over a two-day period, more than 5,000 people attended his visitation and funeral service. State Sen. Charlotte Burks has carried on the tradition of her late husband as one of several state legislators who helped us gain $15 million in state funding for a new and badly needed School of Nursing building.

While Hyder-Burks is available for public rental on weekends, it's primarily used for academics Monday through Thursday.

"A facility like this, for instance, makes it much easier for our professors to conduct lab sessions in inclement weather," says current School of Agriculture Director Wade Faw. "It’s not convenient to take a class out in a thunderstorm to look at a cow, and you can’t very well bring a cow into a standard classroom. This facility provides a proper arena for evaluating animals.”

In addition to labs and academic activities, other functions include livestock shows and sales, rodeos and other competitive events, the State Agriscience Quiz Bowl, FFA training events, Ag in the Classroom teacher training sessions, annual shows and exhibits such as Santa’s Workshop and the Home Show, banquets and meetings, high school graduations, wedding ceremonies and receptions, and even U.S. bankruptcy court.

Students are often involved in the public agricultural events held at the pavilion too, either selling concessions at its three food booths or living in a limited number of apartments on-site and helping to serve as caretakers, looking after the facilities and locking up at night.

“Our student worker residents are a tremendous asset for the pavilion,” Elkins says. “We couldn’t do as much as we do without them, and having reliable students to serve in this capacity cuts down on the necessity for other farm workers to perform these tasks.”

Such features provide an obvious advantage for student outreach, but the facility also has a positive impact on the region by contributing to the Upper Cumberland economy.

“Any event — especially the two-day events — booked at Hyder-Burks has the potential to bring new people into this area, and that means more money being spent at our hotels, restaurants and shopping centers,” says Elkins.

According to a 1995 study by David B. Narrie, who recently retired from the Agriculture faculty, activities in the sales arena — which opened prior to the completion of the main arena — contributed about $420,000 to the Cookeville economy, increased household income by $122,000 and created nine new jobs during its first year of operation. Narrie’s analysis did not include the value of livestock sales at each event or the value of arena rentals.

A similar study conducted in 1997 by a group of business communication students found that events held at the pavilion contributed more than $1.5 million to the Cookeville economy, increased household income by $520,000 and created 37 more jobs in the community.

“I have no doubt that the Hyder-Burks Pavilion changed the School of Agriculture because it made greater student and community outreach possible,” Byler says. “It will be interesting to see how it boosts our agriculture program and the Upper Cumberland’s economy over the next 10 years.”