Local News in Brief : Sheraton Checking Out

The Sheraton hotel chain has announced that it will sever ties with Pasadena’s landmark Huntington Hotel, which it once owned and now manages, and will build a new hotel in the city.

Sheraton spokesmen said the company will end its management duties Jan. 11 because it does not agree with the current owners’ plans to replace the main building with a luxury hotel. The main building was closed in 1985 when studies showed it might not withstand a major earthquake.

Lary Mielke, head of Gemtel Corp., which bought the 81-year-old hotel two years ago, said the disagreement centered on “how you market the hotel.”

Sheraton purchased the Huntington, the first of its West Coast properties, in 1956. It continued to manage the hotel after selling it to Kiekyu USA in 1974.