1631-17 Air Conditioning Hill York Company .
Helping to make Miami a year-round resort
As early as the '20s, Miami Beach had H;U link's service has always been designed to solve pnads ,., ,-^^/;
become a warm weather winter playground. kms before they appear.
But once Easter was gone, so were the ..Tr,-7,;.- . j; i
� r
people. The problem was Miami's notori- cr ':ins i ,
ously hot tropical summer weather. But in G ' �Y,+'' r� ; , gr;, 'u • • .
1936 a company was founded that was des- )fat !I r ! is •
tined to play a major part in solving the '51..!1'..:* ' ` 1, --
�l �:. •` N.
problem. The company was Hill York. And . `
the solution to the problem was a remarka- p III
t y
ble new idea in major buildings — air t • ','`''""''""' "' :'
conditioning. I
Hill York was founded byEverett Carroll ' . ,,•.� r.,.. ..... ,
and Ren Nitzsche primarily as a refrigcra- " ;"=,
•
,,mo�ww•
tion engineering company. The first office �; ,:‘ 9,bc.,' •was on the west side of Bisca ne Boulevard l,i ' --- ::::',;.::3::;;;;L'jc.
y . t;— J' `iltA� `�
and Northeast Fifteenth Street. Just before '� ""' r . i�li
World War II, Hill York moved to 1225 At iL r �® : t �t
Southwest Eighth Street. After the war, the . �►. • _ �~_,f•' � . • r �
company did some modernization of the _".'°"�4v+'"�+. -.• r•i ---sla •' *�"•-3 ' {.,.
building,which became known as the build- . "-�-...,r� •AL.
ing with the slanted front glass windows. ' .�,,,� •-•w+4 • �` ' '°': ::��
Some of the firm's innovative early work i
.. included refrigeration installation for the • '
large sea-going freighters based at the old ferty, Carroll and others, the company de- hotels and office buildings were rising in
Port of Miami. veloped an early expertise in designing air- Miami area, Hill York was a leader in
The firm stayed alive during World War II conditioning systems for large hotels. Hill fecting the complex and massive new
• —when new equipment was imposssible to York converted some of the original great conditioning systems required — soma
obtain — by overhauling used equipment hotels of Miami Beach to air conditioning the largest in the world at that time.
I, and by developing a large and efficient ser- —and, thus, to year-round operations. Hill York also helped pioneer other ki
vice department. Hill York service has been The first complete hotel air-conditioning of air-conditioning installations. Zone
available around the clock, seven days a system on Miami Beach was installed in conditioning was the first economical c
week, for over 40 years. 1946 by Hill York. Between then and 1955, . tral home cooling in the South Florida
After the war, Robert S. Lafferty Sr. . every major hotel on Miami Beach con- mate. Special climate control systems h
joined the Hill York management team and verted to air conditioning. Hill York was been developed for special application
began to pave the way for the firm to enter responsbile for most of the installations, from candy stores and restaurants to by
the still brand-new industry of commercial During the'50s,when the Eden Roc, the tals and film studios.
air conditioning.Through the efforts of Laf- Fontainebleau and other gigantic new Today, Robert S. Lafferty Jr. has
ceeded his father as president and head:
The Roney Plaza was erose of the first completely air-conditional hotels on Miami Beach,orattywhere else. the modern Hill York Corporation—se
---_____ - offices throughout Florida and in
!. Bahamas, some 600 employees and sale
I over $37 million per year. Active in
; community, Lafferty is on the board of
�,t 0a _. ,- I First State Bank of Miami and a membe
-. i1���rrtir ��'a;s �' •' • " II• t� n n t n II ti
the Orange Bowl Committee and
UI-I i i a%, . ., ' , :M • u n u n n t Downtown Rotary Club. Carroll i
I U r r r r r r r, ,r , member of the Downtown Kiwanis C
$111111 �` �, t II �• ' and is on the board of City National Ban
:rr 'Ir ` ''+ • e;�' .� ` Miami.
kt•�,, %`. • I I I , , ,. Hill York is still an innovator, working
I�f. t�" • '�' y,,,,,, ? f;O,r.,� new designs and techniques for maxim
• '` L.,- efficiency and energy savings from Cl
'- - .di* -et! � , -�� - .1 system, and still puts great emphasis on
--- Ty.."s- *m, ...%:„�.,.. -- sir .and efficient service. In fact, Hill Yo
/'` III ----� �Utt. se Nut MIMI! , service philosophy— the best defense
...NIP."(- good offense — is behind a unique sysi
that is designed to find and solve probl-
------_-__•_ _ -'�. 1 before they appear.
'""� �-"'--- - - From the people who practically brou
- _._s-,..r...,.„ -• air conditioning to Miami, that is just w
_j T�-. II�---_..,,�_�""`.- �;).-I;1�' would be expected.