This document was accomplished by EMD Consulting Group, LLC working with its subconsultants for the Town of Pittman Center, Tennessee through an investment by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (Project Number 04-88-05318). The statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and other data in this report are solely those of the consulting team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration.

A group of citizens in the Pittman Center/ Gatlinburg/ Pigeon Forge area of Tennessee have for several years been meeting to consider the possibility of creating a unique educational institution in the area that demonstrates and entertains the public by introducing the diversity of plants, animals, microorganism – the entire natural history – in the Smokies though living collections and hands-on experiences This proposed institution is called the Great Smoky Mountain Discover Life Center.

The Gatlinburg Gateway Foundation was the catalyst for the formation of the Great Smoky Mountains Discover Life Center Team, the project proponents. The project is unique in the area because of the breadth of representatives on the team included including residents of the towns of Pittman Center, Gatlinburg, the Pigeon Forge area, Sevierville and other surrounding counties.

This region has been of extreme interest to biologists for more than 100 years and this has recently been highlighted by the development of an all species inventory that is currently underway in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is called the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI). This study is making important new discoveries about the biology even after a century of study.

This area is the entry to most people to Great Smoky Mountains National Park one of the most visited and beloved national parks in the world. People from around the world are drawn to the Park because of its extreme beauty and biological diversity. In the past 25 years or so, it has also become a major tourist destination for visitors not particularly interested in the natural attractions with the development of Dollywood and related tourist attractions in both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

Some of the community leaders have shown an interest in finding ways to "go back to the roots" of the region by bringing the focus of the area back to the natural attraction of the Smokies – its geologic and biologic diversity – and would like to find ways such as the development of this proposed Center to highlight those features, expand residents’ and visitors’ understanding of these elements and further support the scientific work to document, study, and conserve these resources with emphasis on promoting sustainable development in the area.

The Gatlinburg Gateway Foundation was approached in 2002 by the Great smoky Discover Life Center Team to assist with a preliminary work to begin the formative stages of making the Center a reality. These efforts led to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to provide a federal grant to the Town of Pittman Center to support this Feasibility Study with matching funds provided by: the Sevier County Commission; the Great Smoky Mountains Association; the Gatlinburg Gateway Foundation and the Gatlinburg Merchants’ Association; the City of Gatlinburg; the Town of Pittman Center; the Great Smoky Mountains Discover Life Center Action Team; the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere Foundation; and the City of Sevierville.

The purpose of this study is to provide the proponents of the Discover Life Center and the community a basis on which to judge the potential success of the Center. It is an initial look at the program, the economic environment, and at comparable institutions. It does not purport to be a complete economic study nor provide a full plan of facilities and programs. These will need to be done later as more definition is given to the project. While it is impossible to say with a high level of certainly what the probability of success is of this proposed institution since there are so many unknowns, we have been able to help focus the program, look at some comparable institutions, and make some judgments about the project’s future. The best way to consider this study is as a "viability study" or a preliminary feasibility study with a full feasibility study needed at a future time as the Center becomes more clearly defined.

The three firms who collaborated on this study each have extensive experience related to the development, design, management, and economics of similar institutions including the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Disney’s Wild Animal Park, Northwest Trek Animal Park, Tennessee Aquarium, Missouri Botanical Garden, Audubon Park and Zoological Gardens, and dozens of other institutions. The combined experience and judgment of the principals is especially important in evaluating a project such as this one with so many unknowns since the analytical work cannot be as robust as when a project has advanced to a very specific degree of planning.

We also want to recognize that some community based work has been going on as an adjunct to this study by the proponents working with Mountain Interfaith Creative Action at Home (MICAH), primarily through local churches, to ascertain a level of interest and the kinds of ideas and questions that the local communities have about it. The results of this community input are summarized in this report.

Executive Summary. The purpose of this executive summary is to provide the reader with enough background and detail to understand the basis for the conclusions and recommendations. Necessarily, the summary leaves out important details of the full study report including a large amount of supporting material.

The "program plan" refers to the primary content and kind of exhibits and features that would be incorporated in the proposed Discover Life Center. It is too early to define these precisely and too early to specify all the kinds of educational and research programs that would likely be developed. Still we anticipate that a robust education program would be developed for both adults and children related to the subject matter: the natural history of the Smokies. The program plan developed recognizes the need for a year ‘round attraction so it includes both indoor and outdoor components.

The theme of the proposed Center can be summed up by saying it is the natural history of the Great Smoky Mountains, and the major exhibits are to be live plants and animals displayed in integrated exhibits. The goal is to create "authentic natural experiences" and to "emphasize the inter-connectedness of nature" (all quotations used here are from various materials provided by the project proponents to the study team). It has been agreed from early on that "habitats" would be the focus of the exhibits as the best way to demonstrate the interactions of plants and animals and the web of life. The role of humans in shaping the environment has also been frequently mentioned as a theme to be considered.

It is important to the Center that the work of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) be shown. The project proponents are quite clear in their desire to have research, particularly the continued work of ATBI be a part of or at least funded in part by the Center’s activities. The Center will be able to be a very important public place to tell the story and spread the word about the ATBI project and its findings through exhibits and interpretation.

The study team came to two conclusions on setting out the key elements of the exhibits:

1. In looking at the huge potential for exhibits, we recognize that it is also a liability. The potential to do a lot of different things in a market place that is very crowded for leisure activities does not seem to us to be the best plan for several reasons:

1. The temptation will be to do too many things and not do them well;
2. It will be harder to attract an audience with a generalized message;
3. The capital investment at the outset to do many things all well would be exceedingly high for an institution that has no existing base of huge donors;
4. We do not believe that any debt financing is appropriate;
5. By having a focused institution, it will help get around the image of a "small zoo" that will not attract a significant audience in this marketplace;

It is for these reasons that we are recommending that the Center focus on a single, diverse habitat for its living collections especially during its initial development. The ecosystem that we recommend using as the focus is the stream/ streamside habitat (ecologists term this the "riparian habitat") for several key reasons:

We do recommend that when a final site is selected, that it be large enough to add additional habitats later. The riparian focus can remain as the centerpiece and key unifying theme of the exhibits.

2. There should be a particularly strong emphasis on exhibits that are attractive to kids and in designing exhibits in ways that are special for kids. This suggests to us that artificial caves or rock work to climb on, areas to get wet (fitting with the theme of streams and water), hidden sections of exhibits accessible only to kids, and so on can make a significant different in attracting an audience in this market place. These are all completely appropriate to the overall theme and desire to provide "authentic experiences."

We wish to make the particular point that we are suggesting something much more than a typical "children’s petting zoo" because we do not believe that that would provide the attraction needed for audience appeal nor are we convinced that such a facility would be in keeping with the tone of the Center and keep it distinguished from more typical tourist attractions.

The program table (Table 1) and site diagram (Figure 1) show major features we suggest and the basic layout that could be adapted to many sites.

Impressive community support has been developed already for this project by the proponents. Many, perhaps most, projects at this early stage of development are not able to show the level of community interest that this one has generated. Notably, the first grant ever given to an "action team" by the Gatlinburg Gateway Foundation was given towards beginning the organization of the Center.

This study was supported by a federal grant from the Economics Development Administration with matching funds from a variety of local governments, organizations, and individuals. There are probably no other projects at this early stage in this area that have engendered this amount of cooperative funding from local communities. These matching funds came from: the Sevier County Commission; the Great Smoky Mountains Association; the Gatlinburg Gateway Foundation and the Gatlinburg Merchants’ Association; the City of Gatlinburg; the Town of Pittman Center; the Great Smoky Mountains Discover Life Center Action Team; the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere Foundation; and the City of Sevierville.

The Discover Life group has generated considerable enthusiasm about the concept of the Center through dozens of meetings with individuals as well as larger meetings of groups, primarily through churches. The project proponents, with the assistance of Mountain Interfaith Creative Action at Home (MICAH) organization, have undertaken a particular effort to educate and inform the local communities, reaching to Knoxville, about the project and to solicit ideas and comments from the community. Six meetings have been held, mostly at places of worship since places of worship are a major organizing method in the region. These meetings have been attended by more than 150 people. Surveys were also distributed to attendees and more than 70 of these detailed surveys have been returned.

The support of those attending the meetings has been quite high with more than 95 % responding afterwards that they believe the Center would be a "good addition to the community," "could play a defining role towards good environmental stewardship and sustainable development" and "could provide a new source of jobs for the community."

Just over half of the respondents indicated a willingness to volunteer time to assist in the development of the Center. Importantly, the strongly positive comments came from people of all economic, social and cultural, and religious backgrounds.

In considering the market and economic outlook for the Center, the study team has developed with the client group an essential working model for the Center’s facility concept. At this point in the planning process, it must be noted that the Center’s operating, marketing, and physical design concepts must be regarded as very preliminary. This initial evaluation of the Center’s potential thus is presented by the study team in the context of understanding the standards within which the Center will be expected to operate, as a key contributing factor to the appropriate scale and form of the Center’s further design and operational development.

In considering the overall economic outlook and performance potential for the Center, the study team examined the "track record" and operating parameters of similar institutions on a nationwide and regional basis.

The Center will have elements in common with several generic types of visitor facilities, including museums, zoos, and botanic gardens. In this sense, it is truly a hybrid facility, combining elements in unique ways to emphasize the interconnectedness of animals and plants within their habitats, all interacting in the sphere of human experience. This concept offers a fairly unique appeal in terms of its breadth, but also must be recognized to offer special challenges in terms of its market image and operating complexity.

At this time, only basic elements of the design and operational plans for the Center have been outlined. The study team identified a number of comparable facilities of nationwide impact which can provide lessons regarding the likely range of performance that can be expected from the Center at this early planning date.

Data on the following institutions were reviewed:

• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ
• Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland, Allenwood, PA
• Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, West Yellowstone, MT
• Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Kempton, PA
• The High Desert Museum, Bend, OR
• Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Eastonville, WA
• Virginia Living Museum, Newport News, VA

Among the facilities shown, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has been initially identified by the client group as being the working model for the development and operation of the Center. The study team also noted important differences in the market environment in which the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum exists.

While the Desert Museum in Tucson is "the gold standard" for facilities of this type, a much more modest level of performance is more typical among the other interpretative attractions. Factors which influence the level of activity are numerous, including availability and scale of supporting markets, presence or absence of local competition, and operating quality of the facility.

In the final analysis, the performance potential for the Center will be a function all these and related factors, but most importantly will be a function of the "visitor attraction content" which can be provided at the facility. Clearly, there is a wide range of performance in attendance which is possible for such facilities.

The study team examined a host of factors for each of these institutions including the physical characteristics (size, key features, location); operational characteristics (attendance, season, admission fees, staffing, budget); market related information (resident and tourist markets, penetration rates); and financial information (earned and unearned income, funding sources).

The facilities typically show an operating budget in a range of $1 to $3 million annually, with the exception of the Desert Museum at about $8 million. In all cases, these facilities show earned income revenues which trail the operating cost levels for annual operations. For most of the facilities, the largest segment of earned income comes for admissions fees while membership dues also supply a substantial income source.

All of these models rely on unearned as well as earned income as do most cultural institutions. Typically, these consist of donations and grants, or other types of outside public support for their operations. These outside sources of support reflect the public benefits which are gained from the general public from these institutions, and also reflect pricing policies and exhibit content which emphasize the inclusion of all visitor income groups into the cultural and educational experiences offered by these institutions.

The study team believes that the Center needs to follow these examples relying a diverse funding base of both earned income (e.g., admission fees, rental fees, gift shop and food sales, program fees, special events, memberships) and unearned (e.g., annual contributions, public support, endowment, grants for education and research).

The economic performance of the proposed Center will depend on the nature and size of the available markets for general attendance, for membership, and programs.

Although the proposed Discover Life Center will be expected to receive the large majority of its attendance from non-local visitors and tourists to the area, the resident market will also supply an important base of support for the institution. This will be most important in terms of day-trip visitors to the area and for supporters of the facility who will form the core of the membership of the institution.

Information on demographic characteristics of the resident market was examined in detail. Of note is the relatively small resident population of the local area. A 25-mile radius around Pittman Center has a current population of about 145,000 persons. Extending the market radius to 50 miles, a more substantial secondary market, including Knoxville, is available approaching 800,000 – 1,000,000 persons once the Center is in operation..

For the primary area around Gatlinburg and Pittman Center, the relatively small population base and limited roadway development implies that local support for the facility’s membership base and for commercial support of the institution may be somewhat limited. However, given the international import foreseen for the subject matter and operations of the Center, and the expected nationwide membership support potential for this facility if developed in concert with its unique mission, we expect that this relatively small local population base should not prevent the facility from sustaining successful operations.

The available tourist market into the Gatlinburg area is one of the most ample recreation-oriented, family-dominated visitor flows in a rural area within the country. Certainly, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the surrounding Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge gateway areas represent a primary node of tourist-oriented recreation and accommodation facilities of any destination in the country.

The tourist flow through this area is certainly sufficient to support the Discover Life Center on a sustainable basis.

The key question for the Center to be developed in further planning is whether the facility can find sufficient capital and operating funds to be both initially developed and operated on a sustained basis at its presently foreseen levels of content, scale, and quality.

A key issue in the consideration of the development and planning of the proposed Discover Life Center will be the economic impacts that the development and ongoing operation of the facility will have on the local economy. While many of the explicit details of the development and operation of this facility are not yet defined in sufficient detail to provide the level of data needed for rigorous economic analysis, a general discussion of certain economic planning factors is relevant.

Certainly, the development of a sustainable cultural attraction on site in this region will provide local jobs and associated payrolls, as well as a focus for spending from nonlocal visitors at the facility or in the local area during their trip. Development cost estimates and operating expense profiles for this facility are not presently developed and would be premature at this planning stage. However, the educational nature of the facility and its scientific research aspirations provide two areas where skilled labor and related visitor support functions would clearly provide new jobs in the area.

A further level of economic impact which will be associated with the facility will be attached to visitor spending in the region. For a visitor attraction of its proposed general scale, we would expect that some portion of nonlocal visitor spending in the region could reasonably be attributed to the presence of this facility. This will be especially true if the facility’s aspirations for national and international importance in its subject matter and research programs are attained.

In such a scenario, visitor spending attributable to the Center would include not only on-site admissions and per capita expenditures for food and beverages, merchandise within the Center, but also off-site spending by visitors within the local region, such categories as hotel/motel, camping, restaurants, groceries, gas/oil/other vehicle expenses, local transportation, etc. Such expenditures by nonlocal visitors within the local area, but off-site from the Center, would also be attributable to an extent to the presence of the proposed Center.

For this illustration, the study team has outlined economic planning factors per 100,000 visitors (prior to the actual attendance forecast for the proposed facility) applying economic factors developed by Daniel J. Stynes of Michigan State University in his February 2002 study on "Economic Impacts of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Visitors on the Local Region, 1997-2000."

For each 100,000 annual visitors to the Center, we would expect (using this model) that these visitors would represent about 44,800 visitor party nights, and using the estimated average expenditure per party night for Great Smoky Mountains visitors from that study at $167, about $7.5 million in off-site local expenditures by these visitors would be anticipated.

For purposes of illustration, if the eventual attendance levels of the Center were closer to 200,000 annual visitors, this number would roughly translate to about $15 million in local spending.

Further, using this model, this direct spending would support about 180 jobs in the local area from direct spending, or about 225 jobs including induced multiplier effects. Again, this model should be considered simply as an illustrative planning factor pending further development of planning for the proposed Center.

Finally, it should be noted that such economic impact measures describe the level of spending by visitors to a facility such as the Discover Life Center within the local area, reflecting the facility’s contribution to jobs and personal income generated within that local economy. Such an analysis does not attempt to measure the educational, cultural, and other nonquantified benefits which would accrue to the local region with this institution in place.

Clearly, the educational aspirations of the Center, as well as the expected ongoing scientific research programs on site, will provide substantial additional benefit to the culture and quality of life of the local area.

Each new institution needs to look critically at the factors that are the highest risk and those factors that are most important for its short and long-term success. While no list of such factors can ever be complete, we offer the following ones as those that are most important for the Center’s proponents to be aware of at this time:

In terms of financial resources, the key factors are having a large enough initial capitalization to achieve broad recognition in this very competitive market place, having a sound fundraising plan, and having a diverse base of both earned and unearned income streams for sustaining the operating costs of the Center. The study team believes that an initial capitalization in the $50 million range is highly desirable part of which should be set aside as an operating reserve to help sustain the operating budget in the early years.

All organizations depend in large measure on the quality of the key personnel; in this case this means establishing a strong Board of Directors as well as hiring key staff experienced at operating similar institutions. The criteria for Board membership should include a commitment to the Center’s mission; an understanding of the Center’s potential for tourism and education/ research; and for some Board members ability and willingness to provide major financial support.

Location will be a key factor in determining how well the Center does. The location must be a balance between having a rural character in keeping with the ambiance to be established and a location with easy access for tourists from the Gatlinburg hub of tourism.

We believe one of the most key factors will be the Center’s commitment to high quality exhibits and programs. This can and should be one of the Center’s key ways to distinguish itself in this marketplace.

In general, the marketing and positioning strategy deserves great attention and will make a major difference in the success of the Center. The focused program plan on stream/ streamside habitats is one component of this as is the commitment to quality. In keeping with its mission, the Center should continue to build its relationship with Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a way for visitors to experience the environment in authentic ways and displaying many plants and animals that visitors to the Park are unlikely to encounter on their own either close up or not see at all.

Program. We have recommended a "program" for the site that includes the major features and themes within the overall concept of displaying the interpreting the biodiversity and natural history of the region. We recommend an initial focus on stream/ streamside habitats as well as exhibits for children.

Factors to Enhance Opportunity for Success. We have made a host of recommendations on the ways that the Center can maximize its chances for success by acquiring the best possible site; by having an unflinching commitment to quality in its exhibits and programs; by developing a strong board; hiring experienced staff leadership; by building an ever-expanding base of community support; and by developing effective marketing programs.

Quality of Life. We believe that the ability to diversify the area’s attractions with a high quality educational attraction that is open daily to the public will significantly enrich the quality of life for residents and the quality of the visitor experience for tourists making the area more inviting as a place to live or visit.

Site and Locational Characteristics. While the site is presently undetermined, it is likely that the site will be rural in character and have substantial aesthetic qualities, allowing for successful implementation of the natural, interpretive aspirations of the concept. This site location will offer some shelter in terms of noise, traffic, and congestion from the Parkway-centered tourist flow through Gatlinburg.

While Route 321 is expected to be upgraded in coming years, it is likely that the primary tourist route for visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park will remain the Route 441 Parkway route. As a result, the Center’s direct exposure will be quite limited to the primary visitor corridor through the Gatlinburg area for the large volume of tourists to the area. This implies the need for effective destination marketing program.

Community Support. Local support for the project has been impressive and this is quite important and encouraging. The financial support to match the Economic Development Administration grant for this study came from a wide array of private and public sources and is an indication of the kind of broad support needed for the project to come to fruition. In addition, the enthusiastic support from people who attended numerous community meetings and completed questionnaires is further evidence that the community is very receptive to and enthusiastic about the Discover Life Center.

Market Environment. The tourist flow through the Gatlinburg city area and into Great Smoky Mountains National Park is vast, but is presently highly focused along the 441 Parkway and is centered in terms of attraction activity on the city center of Gatlinburg and on GSMNP itself. While the pastoral concept for the Center implies a need for a degree of removal from this intense core of commercial attractions and facilities, this distance from the core market also implies a challenge for the Center in terms of attracting visitors to its site.

Our discussions with operators of the major commercial attractions in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area indicate that a working estimate of seven to eight million visitors annually is generally adopted as the base available tourist market coming through Gatlinburg. While this market size is certainly sufficient to support a substantial visitor attendance level at the Discover Life Center, the specific marketing strategies and visitor attraction content which will developed for the Center will play a key role in the facility’s ability to penetrate this available market.

Competitive Environment. There is a large complement of commercial attractions and facilities located in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. This corridor represents one of the highest concentrations of commercial recreation facilities at varying levels of quality in the country. The character of visitors to the area is ultimately driven by the nature of the appeal of GSMNP, although the growing body of commercial attractions in the area is now sufficient in size to constitute its own audience magnet.

The commercial orientation of the large majority of these attractions and activity centers poses a challenging competitive environment for the Center, although it also offers the opportunity for a level of differentiation from the commercial nature of most of the available product in the area. At the same time, the Center will face significant competition from cluttered attraction offerings in the area, with much of it supported by a very active marketing thrust in the commercial attractions field.

In fact, the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area is effectively marketed nationwide, and in total presents a product mix appealing to different audience tastes than the target appeal for the Discover Life Center. Again, this implies a market opportunity for the Center in terms of differentiation from the existing product, but also poses a challenge in a competitive sense in the Center’s prospects for "getting its message heard" amidst the large volume of commercial attraction advertising and physical presence in the area.

Market Differentiation Opportunity. The Center has the opportunity to provide an alternative experience for families with children valuing educational as well as entertainment experiences. At the same time, there is a degree of risk inherent in a product which offers a different appeal that what the audience is presently consuming. In a sense, the linkage between the Center and Great Smoky Mountains National Park is thematically strong, and it will be advisable to create marketing linkages as well with Great Smoky Mountains National Park as the Center’s marketing program is developed.

We believe that the best way for the Center to achieve its market potential is to present a highly differentiated and high quality experience to the visitor public, so that the unique qualities of the Center’s attraction concept can be appreciated. The study team’s initial physical concept, attempts to represent a unique quality of market appeal in this sense through its emphasis on a well-executed riparian habitat focus.

It is important that this facility not be viewed as simply "another small zoo," given the availability of very similar animals and plant materials in the home locations of most of its visitor population. To be successful, the Center must have distinct and differentiated visitor-attraction content, both to substantially execute its core mission and to offer a distinction in its market appeal within the competitive environment.

Market Potential. While an attendance forecast is beyond the scope of work of this preliminary planning study, the study team has presented a range of market penetration rates at several comparable national facilities. These examples point out the reasonably wide range of market penetration that is possible at such facilities. There are a number of factors which will ultimately determine the Center’s ability to penetrate its available markets, several of which must be developed in later planning stages for the Center. These would include detailed exhibitry and attraction content, a visitor support facility planning, marketing programs, and designation of a specific site area. For the present, the study team believes that a relatively modest penetration of the large and commercial attraction-dominated tourist market in the Gatlinburg area is appropriate for planning purposes.

Visitor-Attraction Content. A central issue for this facility will be the extent of capital investment funds to be made available for its development. Besides the buildings and exhibits of the Center, funds must be allocated to provide for site purchase, infrastructure development, and other support functions.

While only rough design cost estimates are possible at this initial planning stage, the study team believes that visitor-attraction content must be very substantial for the facility to have enough market impact for successful operation within its complex marketing environment.

Economic Planning Factors. An essential economic finding of the study team is that for an attraction of the mission and subject matter of the proposed Discover Life Center, prudent financial planning calls for the facility to rely not only on visitor and membership revenues, but also on external grants and donations (unearned income) to support its operating budget. For a cultural facility as envisioned for the Discover Life Center, wide experience indicates that earned income alone is not sufficient to support the ongoing need for operating budget funds to support the institution on a long-term basis.

On this basis, it is not reasonable to foresee net operating profits to be generated by visitor revenues versus the facility’s eventual operating budget. This expectation would not be representative of the kind of operation which emphasizes high quality educational experiences along with entertainment values within a well designed physical facility.

The study team’s review of operating revenue/expense profiles at comparable national institutions indicates the need for the reliance on unearned revenues as well as visitor revenues for the support of operations at such facilities. In fact, the Center will have to rely upon not only earned income (from admissions, merchandise, food service, memberships, etc.), but also private sources (including foundations, corporations, fundraising); government sources (as available); and investment income (as available) from endowments or other sources. While it is beyond the scope of the present report to predict the nature of all these revenue sources for the Discover Life Center, the study team believes that it is important from a prudent economic planning perspective that all of the above sources be considered in developing the capital and operating funding resources needed for the long-term financial success of the proposed facility.

Revenue. The study team believes a diversified set of revenue streams is essential for the financial success of the Center. Though it is not possible to project the details of the Center until planning is far more advanced, the Center may be towards the high end of the "earned income percentage" achieved at similar institutions, around 50 %. Earned income includes revenues from admission, retail sales from shops and restaurants, rental income and catering income, and membership etc. The balance of the revenue will need to come from a combination of unearned sources of revenue: fundraising (for operations and special projects and programs), government sources, and endowment.

We recommend that a substantial cash reserve be raised as part of the initial capital funding as well as building an endowment from the outset. These two items will not only help provide financial stability to the Center, but also they will give donors greater confidence in the project and therefore increase the willingness of donors to support the project with capital and annual funds.

Overall Viability. The study team concludes that at this conceptual level of planning that the Great Smoky Mountains Discover Life Center appears to us to be viable because (1) the concept and content are strong and can provide enough market appeal and market differentiation, (2) the potential market size is sufficiently large, and (3) reasonable sites are likely to be available for the Center. The ultimate success of the Center depends on numerous factors outlined in this study including the necessity for major capital funding, a commitment to high quality in exhibits and programs, and the achievement of a diversified set of income streams, both earned and unearned, as is characteristic for a facility of this type.

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