Date: June 8, 2009
Contact: Nancy Gray, (865) 436-1208
Superintendent Dale Ditmanson and personnel at Great Smoky Mountains National Park will host an Open House to welcome the public to Park Headquarters on Sunday, June 14 as part of the 75th Anniversary Weekend celebration. The event will highlight Park management activities and spotlight Park architecture and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) development (1933-1942). The Park Headquarters building, built in 1940 by the CCC, will be open to the public from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The Open House will give the public a first-of-its-kind behind the scenes view of the Park’s day-to-day operations and activities and a unique opportunity to meet and talk with key managers of the Park, tour the administrative building with its unique historical features, and enjoy refreshments. In addition, the Great Smoky Mountains Association’s main offices located behind Park Headquarters will also be open during the day to give the public a look at what it takes to manage the Park’s bookstores and create the many books and other publications it produces in cooperation with the Park.
Exhibits and equipment, including a fire truck, search and rescue vehicle, and road maintenance vehicles, will be on display to help illustrate the many aspects of employees’ responsibilities in carrying out the Park’s mission in protecting the natural and cultural resources, maintaining the roads, buildings, and trails, and providing visitor services.
“We will basically showcase how we perform and accomplish our duties, everything from conducting air and water quality research, protecting wildlife, treating nonnative plant and animal species, search and rescue, maintaining historic buildings and cultural landscapes, prioritizing road construction and facilities improvement projects, conducting visitor and educational programs, and carrying out our fiscal responsibilities,” said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson.
Charles Barber, architect with the firm of Barber & McMurry, designed the Headquarters building which was cited in a 1941 report to be “the finest of all administration buildings in the National Parks”. The lobby, influenced by the living room of the Blount Mansion in Knoxville, Tenn., was recently renovated to its original appearance with the help of Dollywood blacksmiths who volunteered to recreate wrought iron chandeliers to replace two of the original six fixtures that were no longer serviceable.
As part of the Open House, the adjacent Sugarlands Visitor Center will also have scheduled activities and special exhibits. A photo timeline on the Park’s early history can be viewed as well as a display of archival materials and museum collections relating to the Park’s creation and development that will include photos, drawings, journals, published papers, and small artifacts.
An unveiling of the winning quilt of the Pigeon Forge 75th Anniversary Smokies Sampler Quilt contest will be held at 11 a.m. The quilter, Naomi Davis of Sevierville, Tenn., donated her handiwork to the Park and the quilt will be on display in the lobby of the visitor center throughout 2009. “This impressive quilt uses traditional patterns that are representative of the Park, such as bear paw, log cabin, water wheel, etc., and reflects the heritage of the Southern Appalachian Mountains,” said Sugarlands Visitor Center Supervisor Kent Cave.
From 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., an easy guided hike along the Old Sugarlands Trail to the Sugarlands Civilian Conservation Corps camp site will be conducted for those who would like to know more about how the Park was developed in the 1930s. Hikers should meet at the visitor center.
Parking is available at the Sugarlands Visitor Center.
The Anniversary Weekend begins on Saturday, June 13, with a concert performed by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in Cades Cove, and ends on Monday, June 15, with a celebration of cultural heritage and grounding breaking of a new visitor center at Oconaluftee.
