The Valley

Blair Brim

Congratulations go out to our Engineers at the Hilton in Pasadena as their contract is finally completed! Local 501 Engineers have taken care of the Hilton Pasadena since the early 70s. Over the years, the crew size has varied from 7 to 10—currently there are eight engineers, including the Chief and one Apprentice—totaling 107 combined years of experience in the Hotel industry.

Measuring in at 208,000 square feet, the Hotel has 296 guest rooms, 19 Meeting/Ballrooms equaling 27,000 sq. ft. of space, a full service restaurant, room service, bar, pool, and exercise facility. Over the years, the property has undergone several large renovations; the most recent restoration included guest bathrooms, meeting rooms, and replacement of the exterior window wall system of the entire building, providing the edifice with a new look as well as a vast improvement in energy efficiency.

The team takes pride in handling all aspects of Hotel operations — acquiring outside contractors to assist them in operations is a rarity. Along with the guest rooms and physical property, the crew maintains a chilled water system, 300 ptac units, building booster pumps, 2,700,000 btu’s of domestic water heaters, water softeners, plumbing, electrical, a full service restaurant and bar, ovens, stoves, steamer, conveyor dishwasher, all in-house refrigeration equipment, over 16 ice machines, 4 walk-in refrigerators, 2 walk-in freezers, and several reach-in units.

“There isn’t much we can’t do,” says Chief Terry Ward, “The guys like it because they get to learn and expand their knowledge, keeping things interesting for everyone.” The crew changes compressors, motors, heaters, TXVs, pressure switches, tube bundles, Evaporators and Condensing coils, sheaves, pulleys, thermostats, contactors, breakers, capacitors, relays, etc. They even have specialty talents like furniture repair and stain finish repair. IT has become an area the Engineering Department supports, including TV systems, phone systems and wiring, hardwire and wireless internet services, data cables, routers, hubs, server, switches, etc.

One in-house project the Engineering Department is committed to at this time involves the installation of a Honeywell Lon Spec EMS system to control the HVAC systems for the meeting rooms and public spaces. The Hotel recognizes the value of having a skilled staff on site to immediately address issues, eliminating as much down time as possible. Having the Hilton Pasadena Engineers as examples of what a well trained Engineering Department can do makes myjob easier when negotiating first time contracts with employers.

Keep up the good work!