diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/SmokeTestController.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/SmokeTestController.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a65ef59e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/SmokeTestController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
+
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.VitroRequest;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.responsevalues.ResponseValues;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.responsevalues.TemplateResponseValues;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.smoketest.SolrContextChecker;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.smoketest.TestResult;
+
+/**
+ * The controller responsible for checking statuses of various
+ * services across the web application. (Ex: Solr Server, etc.)
+ * TODO: This is just an initial test implementation and will continue
+ * to change.
+ */
+public class SmokeTestController extends FreemarkerHttpServlet {
+	
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;   
+    private static final Log log = LogFactory.getLog(SmokeTestController.class.getName());
+    
+	private static final String TEMPLATE_NAME = "smokeTest.ftl";
+	
+	@Override
+	protected ResponseValues processRequest(VitroRequest vreq){
+		
+		SolrContextChecker solrContextChecker = new SolrContextChecker();
+		TestResult result = solrContextChecker.test(vreq);
+		
+        Map<String, Object> body = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+        
+        body.put("SolrContextChecker", result);
+		
+		
+		return new TemplateResponseValues(TEMPLATE_NAME, body);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/SmokeTestsRunner.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/SmokeTestsRunner.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..002e3bfd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/SmokeTestsRunner.java
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
+
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.smoketest;
+
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.VitroRequest;
+
+/**
+ * Any class that wishes to output status to smoketest.ftl 
+ * implements this interface.
+ */
+public interface SmokeTestsRunner {
+	
+	public TestResult test(VitroRequest vreq);
+}
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/SolrContextChecker.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/SolrContextChecker.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..00e485288
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/SolrContextChecker.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
+
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.smoketest;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpSession;
+
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServer;
+
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.VitroRequest;
+
+/**
+ * A sample class implementing SmokeTestsRunner interface that 
+ * prints out to a webpage the status of SolrServer i.e whether it 
+ * is up and running or not.
+ * TODO: This is just an initial test implementation and will continue
+ * to change.
+ */
+public class SolrContextChecker implements SmokeTestsRunner {
+
+	@Override
+	public TestResult test(VitroRequest vreq) {
+	
+		HttpSession session = vreq.getSession();
+		ServletContext context = (ServletContext)session.getServletContext();
+		
+		//get the index details about SolrServer from the context
+		SolrServer server = (SolrServer) context.getAttribute("vitro.local.solr.server");
+		
+		TestResult testResult;
+		
+		if(server != null){
+			 testResult = new TestResult("Solr Server is up and running!", true);
+		}else{
+			testResult = null;
+		}
+	
+		return testResult;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/TestResult.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/TestResult.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a27c307c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/smoketest/TestResult.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
+
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.smoketest;
+
+/*
+ * A Basic object that contains the status of a service
+ * and a boolean indicating whether the service is on or off.
+ * TODO: This is an initial implementation and might change significantly
+ * over the course of time. (see NIHVIVO-336)
+ */
+public class TestResult {
+	
+	private String result = "";
+	private boolean message = false;
+	
+	public TestResult(String result, boolean message) {
+		this.result = result;
+		this.message = message;
+	}
+	
+	public String getResult(){
+		return result;
+	}
+	
+	public boolean getMessage(){
+		return message;
+	}
+	
+
+}
diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/smokeTest.ftl b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/smokeTest.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4661f86b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/smokeTest.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+<#-- $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ -->
+
+<#-- Template for the body of the SmokeTest page -->
+<#-- TODO: This is an initial implementation and will continue to evolve. -->
+
+
+<#if SolrContextChecker??>
+	<h2>${SolrContextChecker.result}</h2>
+</#if>
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