Smokies Life celebrates ribbon cutting at new welcome center
Now that the ribbon has been cut, the new welcome center will be used for a variety of meetings and events while also providing a hub for park visitors. Kyle Perrotti photo
One of the four nonprofit partners of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Smokies Life, now has a new home — The Great Smokies Welcome Center — a space to call its own that after recent rounds of renovations feels perfectly tailored to the organization’s mission.
Last week, Smokies Life held an event to celebrate the new building with a ribbon cutting featuring locally elected officials from Townsend and Blount County, Tennessee, where the building is located; park officials; Smokies Life Board members; and others with a stake in the park.
The official opening of the new building is another step in a recent effort to rebrand the nonprofit. On Feb. 1, Smokies Life changed to its current name from Great Smoky Mountains Association; the organization was founded in 1953 as Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association. According to the organization, the most recent name change was meant to highlight a deeper connection to “life” in the Smokies.
Since its founding, Smokies Life has provided more than $50 million in direct aid to the park. In addition to the welcome center in Townsend, it also has a presence at seven other park visitor centers and bookstores, including the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and Swain County Visitor Center and Museum.
The new building is meant to bring people together around nature while serving as a vital hub for information at an entrance to the park that sees less traffic and perhaps enjoys fewer resources than the entrance at the edge of Gatlinburg. It features a large porch with plenty of room to meet outside under the sun, as well as a wide-open meeting space on its second floor. On the first floor is a gift shop and information center.
It’s a marked improvement from the previous visitor center right across the street at the Townsend Visitor Center, where it was housed for 31 years. Although it seemed that the board members were thankful for that space and thankful for the growth Smokies Life achieved there, it was time to move on and relocate to a building that feels more aligned with the mission.
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“We worked with a local property owner here, Rob Cochran, and he was very gracious about renovating this building to our specifications,” said Smokies Life CEO Laurel Rematore prior to the event.
GSMNP Superintendent Cassius Cash noted how vital the education and information component of Smokies Life’s contribution is to the park. From trail and road closure updates to information on parking passes, the welcome center is a vital stop for anyone hoping to visit the park in a responsible manner.
Talking at the ribbon cutting for the GSMNP Welcome Center are (from left) Townsend, Tennessee Police Chief Kevin Condee, community member Brent Musick, GSMNP Deputy Superintendent Alan Sumeriski and GSMNP Superintendent Cassius Cash. Kyle Perrotti photo
“It’s important that people not only come to have a good time, but they can come to have a good time safely, so that first stop here really sets the tone,” Cash said. “What’s the etiquette? What are the safety messages that we want to make sure people can get?”
“With Smokies Life as a partner, there’s a force multiplier, and they help us get these various messages out,” he added.
Prior to the ribbon cutting, there was a series of speeches.
Smokies Life Board Chair Geoff Cantrell, a Haywood County native, spoke first. Along with recognizing elected officials, he discussed how Townsend in particular is a special spot for him and his family, as well as lovers of the Smokies in general, going all the way back to his childhood.
“[Townsend] it is still a wonderful town and just an incredible gateway community. And that’s much the same thinking for this nonprofit organization founded 70 years ago. Both have seen the ebb and flow of time. Smokies Life and Townsend have, in many ways, grown and evolved together as neighbors and partners.”
“Townsend is still a great place to call home, or to come and visit, as it always has been intertwined with Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” he added. “And that is what makes the Great Smoky Welcome Center behind us here that much more remarkable.”
Rematore, who is set to retire at the end of this year, also spoke. Before she came up, a two-minute video highlighting the work Smokies Life has done in the park was played. At the end of that video, it’s noted that now is the time to “celebrate” the park with a focus on what it offers the nonprofit and what the nonprofit can offer in return. When Rematore came up to the mic, she wiped away tears.
“I’ve seen it 50 times and it’s still happening,” she said of the video. “Today, we are celebrating the relationship that all of us have with this park. This place is family. It’s regeneration. It’s tranquility and memories. It’s history. To our visitors and to locals alike, this park is life.”
Rematore made a point of stating how thrilled she was with the new branding around the nonprofit’s new name. Likewise, Rematore was happy with the location of the new building, part of the legacy she will leave to the next generation of Smokies Life supporters.
Stakeholders with a wide variety of connections to the park and Smokies Life came out to see the new building. Kyle Perrotti photo
“The messaging around our new name, Smokies Life, will help us thrive and grow by encouraging and elevating people’s connections to this very important place,” she said.
Cash spoke last. As he looked out over the grounds and toward the mountains in the distance, he marveled at the new facility and the effort that went into making it a reality, recalling a recent event and how it highlighted the importance of the relationship the park has with Smokies Life.
“We had a volunteer banquet this weekend. We have over 2,000 volunteers in this park, believe it or not, and we were giving thanks to them,” he said. “Laurel and Smokies Life help us be able to do that. I’m always reminded of how many hands it takes to be able to make this place move, to be able to welcome the 13 million visitors that come into the park to play. And I will tell you Smokies Life has been, I would say, my partner in crime.”
Cash said that the creativity and innovation Smokies Life has brought to the park is reflected in the new building, which offers an abundance of both utility and inspiration. Finally, he said he was happy to see the words “Welcome Center” on the building’s sign.
“In the Park Service, we use the word ‘business’ a lot, but when you listen to Laura and think about how this place was designed, the word ‘welcoming’ means that it is part of the community; it is woven into the fabric of what this community stands for,” he said. “This is exactly what you were able to pull off. It’s a word of inclusiveness that reflects the things that we always try to do.”
Correction: A previous version of this story referred to the new welcome center as a "headquarters." Smokies Life's headquarters is located in a separate building in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
