PURPOSE AND NEED STATEMENT
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS INSTITUTE AT TREMONT
SITE AND FACILITIES
Purpose for Action:
The purpose specifies resource conditions and visitor experiences to be achieved and provides the basic foundation for decision making.
The purpose incorporates the overall goals of the Institute and how this purpose upholds the purpose and significance of the Park.
Purpose should be limited to critical goals and objectives needed to meet the Tremont Mission.
To evaluate the needs of a comprehensive campus master plan for Great Smoky
Mountains Institute at Tremont (Tremont) as specified in the 1982 Park General
Management Plan and to provide alternatives that meet Institute, Park and Education purposes related to campus development or undevelopment.
The Purpose of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is to provide in depth
experiences through educational programs designed to nurture appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, celebrate diversity, and foster stewardship.
Specifically, this program has been established at Tremont to provide visiting students with concentrated resource based education programs and overnight experiences inside the Park environment. The Tremont program is designed to perpetuate for future generations an understanding and appreciation of one of the most biologically diverse natural systems in North America incorporating both past and present human relationships with these Southern Appalachian Mountain systems.
Tremont serves as the primary residential education facility within the Park and fulfills and upholds the mission of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the
Comprehensive Resource Education Plan. The location of a residential educational facility within the Park provides tangible opportunities for students to experience the largest protected forest in the Southeastern United States in the form of an outdoor classroom and environmental learning laboratory. The Tremont educational program and facility serves middle school and high school students primarily and educators secondarily but also adults and families in a manner that nurtures appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Tremont also serves a critical role in providing training opportunities for, and assists in networking for those who are interested in experiential and field based education methods. Tremont serves as a learning laboratory for teachers who may later bring their groups to the Park. It is also a training ground for young professionals who are gaining experience in the field of place based education and interpretation.
The Tremont curriculum provides opportunities for students to experience the natural and
cultural sciences first-hand by providing a total educational immersion into the natural
and cultural environment of the Southern Appalachians. Fewer and fewer opportunities
exist outside of the Park boundaries that meet this intensive standard of combining
education with the unmatched, exceptional resources for which the Park was established.
Students will learn, develop and apply skills as resource stewards both at Tremont and
upon returning home. Transition, both physically and psychologically from the student’s
home environment to the Park environment and then back again is central to the Tremont
experience.
Need for Action:
This is a discussion of existing conditions that need to be changed, problems that need to
be remedied, decisions that need to be made and policies or mandates that need to be
implemented.
Needs must define and state the problems rather than identify solutions.
• Planning Direction or Guidance
Park Mission and Mission Goals
Special Mandates and Administrative Commitment
Service wide mandates and policies
Tremont specifics
• Planning Opportunities and Issues
Decision Points
Major Resources and Human Values at Stake in the Planning Process
The buildings and campus at Tremont within Great Smoky Mountains National Park
were never designed to function as an education facility and do not function well in
meeting current programmatic, visitor or employee needs. Facilities are not sustainable
and were not designed to fit with the Park environment either in function or aesthetic.
The campus buildings and grounds do not demonstrate the principles Tremont teaches
and do not embody the core philosophies of the National Park Service related to ecology,
biodiversity, and environmental stewardship through sustainable designs. The designed
campus landscape needs improvement to support natural and cultural resource learning
and to meet National Park Service mandates and policies.
The relationship between use and impacts on resources is not fully known but all actions
taken will need to protect natural and cultural resources and restore natural resources and
systems specific to the Tremont site. Some facilities, such as the main office building,
may be located in prime or prohibited resource areas and may either be causing undue
impact to those resources or pose safety hazards due to location. The campus footprint
and impervious surfaces may be impacting known wetlands and floodplains in addition to
other resources not yet identified. The study will identify any major impacts to resources
and subsequent alternative plans will be structured to lessen the impact of facilities and
activities to the specific site
The process of transition is poorly defined and physical transitional spaces are largely
absent in the existing campus configuration. Transitional learning spaces, gathering
spaces, the gradual nodes that define changes in environments between interior and
exterior spaces, formal transitions between arrival, entry and orientation as well as
adequate transition from campus trails to Park trails are needed to incorporate the desired
experience and effectively move students and visitors between spaces. Separate bath and
restroom facilities are needed to serve the outdoor sleeping space for overnight camping
experiences.
Existing buildings are limited in scope due to lack of flexibility and adaptability within
the physical designs and therefore prevent adequate accommodation of differing group
sizes, genders, demographics and uses in most facilities. The large dormitory rooms do
not provide the expected level of privacy and make it difficult to accommodate smaller
living groups, families and adults. A large multi-use space or separate individual spaces
to accommodate school group activities and/or large meetings complete with audio/video
capabilities is needed. There is a lack of adequate classroom space, office space, staging
and storage areas and a shortage of necessary staff housing for interns, volunteers,
visiting teachers, security and other necessary on-site personnel. Greater privacy in
bathroom and lodging areas is needed.
An adequate dining facility to meet physical space requirements and State health
standards is needed. Handicapped accessibility is limited on campus and in many cases
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines are not being met. Universal
design principles are not comprehensively employed in the campus design. Designs need
to provide greater access to children by adults and generally resolve safety and security
issues. Some buildings are not structurally sound and the main dormitory is in direct
violation of National Fire Protection Association egress codes.
Many buildings have inadequate roof and site drainage. Outdated and inadequate
plumbing present multiple problems for operations. Building designs do not provide
adequate natural sunlight. Lack of sunlight and adequate natural ventilation coupled with
improper heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems permit high levels of humidity
that cause physical discomfort and extensive mold and mildew problems. Improper
surface materials present an ongoing risk to public health and safety. Most buildings
have poor thermal insulation properties. Utilities, water and wastewater systems are old
and inadequate to sustain existing levels of use.
A separation of services and parking from the core education program space needs to be
incorporated into the campus master plan. An appropriate location for a sustained visitor
information/contact center, backcountry registration, and sales area and public restrooms
need to be identified. A registration area for programs and large groups using the facility
as well as an appropriate means to convey necessary information with both personal
services and fixed media for general campus orientation is needed as the campus layout is
deficient.
There will be an ongoing need for proper maintenance of campus facilities. Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont needs to operate and be sustainable in a fiscally
responsible manner, which can be accomplished through the redesign of facilities to be
more energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and sustainable.
