Smoky Mountain Knife Works ADA Compliance Review

Smoky Mountain Knife Works (SMKW) operates a 108,000 square-foot facility in Sevierville, Tennessee, that has more than 1.5 million visitors annually. The facility includes showroom areas for the public, with additional back-of-house (BOH) areas for employee offices, storage, and operations. Founded primarily on the sale of knives of all types, SMKW’s facility includes a wide variety of sporting goods and related products, as well as miscellaneous related items such as cookware, clothing, toys, and food.

SMKW contracted with DLZ for the evaluation of ADA compliance of public and many employee common-use areas within the facility, which included multiple entrances for employees and customers, three (3) separate parking facilities, and a knife forging outbuilding. The main facility includes two primary floor levels within that each have multiple elevations connected by a step(s) and/or 14 separate ramps or ramp runs, an elevator and platform lift, four (4) separate mezzanine areas that include offices, storage, and a museum for visitors, dozens of service counters and check-out lanes, fitting rooms, public and employee restrooms, and showroom floor. DLZ’s scope included preparation of a report documenting our findings, including corrective actions necessary, priority, and estimated costs.