Photo by Tom Campbell

Randy Woodson (third from right), Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, assists members of the Beck family as they open the Beck Agricultural Center on Oct. 31.

For the better part of two years, Jim Beaty — as superintendent of Purdue’s Agronomy Center for Research and Education — oversaw every minute detail of the construction of the Beck Agricultural Center at the agronomy farm west of campus.

“I want to acknowledge that I was only like the expectant father out in the hall,” Beaty, BS ’77, MS ’86, said at the Oct. 31 building dedication ceremony. “The guy who delivered on the project was the construction superintendent, Karl Whitaker, from the Hamstra Group, the general contractors.”

The 20,000-square-foot center includes space for classes, meetings and research, and it is expected to be used by the campus, agricultural and rural communities.

The $5.2 million building was financed with a major gift from the Beck family of Atlanta, Ind., combined with Purdue Agriculture development funds. The family owns and operates Beck’s Hybrids, an Indiana seed company founded in 1937.

But if the building was Beaty’s baby, it grew up quickly. “Now I’m like the father of the bride,” Beaty quips, “giving away operational responsibility to Dave Petritz.”

Petritz, who retired as director of Purdue Extension in June, hardly had time to be fitted for a rocking chair before being called out of retirement to help launch the Beck Agricultural Center.

“It just seemed like a perfect fit,” Petritz says. “I’m a details-oriented person, and this job requires a lot of planning and attention to detail.”

Petritz knew his retirement would be short-lived, but he didn’t expect it to be this short.

“I just knew I wasn’t going to be sitting around in a rocking chair, but this opportunity came up quickly.”

The center includes four classrooms, a multipurpose room, a conference room and a food serving area. The multipurpose room features a large garage door so that agricultural equipment can be brought into the building for teaching and demonstrations.