diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/controller/IndexController.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/controller/IndexController.java
index 90aa503fd..0738a5772 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/controller/IndexController.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/search/controller/IndexController.java
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServer;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServerException;
 
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.auth.permissions.SimplePermission;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.auth.requestedAction.Actions;
@@ -26,6 +28,7 @@ import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.responsevalues.Red
 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.search.indexing.IndexBuilder;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.search.solr.SolrSetup;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.threads.VitroBackgroundThread.WorkLevel;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.threads.VitroBackgroundThread.WorkLevelStamp;
 
@@ -151,9 +154,20 @@ public class IndexController extends FreemarkerHttpServlet {
 		body.put("elapsed", formatElapsedTime(since, new Date()));
 		body.put("expected", formatElapsedTime(since, expectedCompletion));
 		body.put("hasPreviousBuild", since.getTime() > 0L);
+		body.put("indexIsConnected", testIndexConnection());
 		return new TemplateResponseValues(TEMPLATE_NAME, body);
 	}
 
+	private Boolean testIndexConnection() {
+		try {
+			SolrSetup.getSolrServer(getServletContext()).ping();
+			return Boolean.TRUE;
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			log.error("Can't connect to the Solr server.", e);
+			return Boolean.FALSE;
+		}
+	}
+
 	private Date figureExpectedCompletion(Date startTime, long totalToDo,
 			long completedCount) {
 		Date now = new Date();
@@ -183,11 +197,11 @@ public class IndexController extends FreemarkerHttpServlet {
 
 	private String figureCurrentTask(Collection<String> flags) {
 		if (flags.contains(IndexBuilder.FLAG_REBUILDING)) {
-			return "rebuilt";
+			return "Rebuilding";
 		} else if (flags.contains(IndexBuilder.FLAG_UPDATING)) {
-			return "updated";
+			return "Updating";
 		} else {
-			return "";
+			return "Not working on";
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/admin/searchIndex.ftl b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/admin/searchIndex.ftl
index fb5a94b7c..ab5ee849e 100644
--- a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/admin/searchIndex.ftl
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/admin/searchIndex.ftl
@@ -6,9 +6,20 @@
 
 <h2>Search Index Status</h2>
 
-<#if worklevel == "IDLE">
+<#if !indexIsConnected>
+    <!-- Can't contact the Solr server. Indexing would be impossible. Show an error message. -->
+    <section id="error-alert" role="alert">
+        <img src="${urls.images}/iconAlert.png" width="24" height="24" alert="Error alert icon" />
+        <p>The search index is not connected.</p>
+        <p><tt>SolrServer.ping()</tt> failed.
+        <p>Check startup status page and/or Tomcat logs for more information.</p>
+    </section>
+    
+<#elseif worklevel == "IDLE">
+    <!-- Solr indexer is idle. Show the button that rebuilds the index. -->
+    <h3>The search indexer is idle.</h3>
     <#if hasPreviousBuild??>
-        <p>Most recent update was at ${since?string("hh:mm:ss a, MMMM dd, yyyy")}</p>
+        <p>The most recent update was at ${since?string("hh:mm:ss a, MMMM dd, yyyy")}</p>
     </#if>
     
     <form action="${actionUrl}" method="POST">
@@ -17,11 +28,16 @@
             Reset the search index and re-populate it.
         </p>
     </form>
+    
 <#elseif totalToDo == 0>
+    <!-- Solr indexer is preparing the list of records. Show elapsed time since request. -->
     <h3>Preparing to rebuild the search index. </h3>
     <p>since ${since?string("hh:mm:ss a, MMMM dd, yyyy")}, elapsed time ${elapsed}</p>
+    
 <#else>
-    <h3>The search index is currently being ${currentTask}.</h3>
+    <!-- Solr indexer is re-building the index. Show the progress. -->
+    <h3>${currentTask} the search index.</h3>
     <p>since ${since?string("hh:mm:ss a, MMMM dd, yyyy")}, elapsed time ${elapsed}, estimated total time ${expected}</p>
     <p>Completed ${completedCount} out of ${totalToDo} index records.</p>
+    
 </#if>