Tim Houchens worked for the City of Greenbelt for 35 years during an amazing time of growth and change. With Greenbelt Public Works from 1986 to 2021, Houchens held the title of Facilities Maintenance Manager while city facilities were improved, expanded or created anew, including the Police Station, the Aquatic & Fitness Center, Schrom Hills Park, the Community Center and the Old Greenbelt Theatre.
Jim Sterling, director of Public Works, said of Houchens, “He’s seen in his time the city grow from four buildings to nine buildings now. He’s been instrumental in getting them built and maintaining them. Tim will be remembered for his dedication, hard work and willingness to respond to emergencies. He’s known for his relentless pursuit to get it right and do a good job.”
Houchens and his crew have maintained all the city-owned buildings, doing everything from major maintenance to minor maintenance. Houchens pointed out that Greenbelt is different from other cities who have fewer public buildings, because “Greenbelt runs all their own facilities, except the Firehouse and the Library.” Public Works also maintains ballfields, tennis courts and underpasses. The lighting alone for the city’s many public spaces is a major maintenance concern. He added, “The city takes care of the [Roosevelt] Center, even though it doesn’t own the buildings.”
Houchens was there when the Police Station was built. When Houchens first came to work for Greenbelt, the police were based in two trailers near City Hall, and he recalled how, over time, the force expanded from 20 officers to more than 60, plus support staff. Part of his job remodeling the city offices in 1990-91 included dismantling and removing the jail cells from the building.
Houchens was part of the major renovation and expansion of the city pool. The pool had been the first public pool in Prince George’s County, and still exists as it was originally built, with the old snack shack as part of the new expansion. The indoor pool was built in 1990, an $8 million project. The fitness wing was added a few years later.
In recent years, Houchens led a major renovation of the Old Greenbelt Theatre, taking out the air-conditioning system that was original to 1937. “It was a dinosaur,” Houchens said, but “it lasted 80 years.” He helped design the new system and its backup; the pool and the Police Station also reflect the same backup strategy.
Houchens points out that facilities maintenance means dealing with many different types of inspections, including fire alarm inspections, generator inspections and kitchen hood inspections, just to name a few. With important programs housed in the Community Center, including adult day care and Greenbelt Nursery School, he noted that, “You don’t want to shut down a program if you didn’t keep things straight.”
Special events were an important facet of Houchens’ work. “Labor Day grew and grew until the crew had to put down $30,000 worth of electric … and maintain the power the whole time the carnival was there,” Houchens said. As a city man, Houchens did stints driving the snowplow, remembering “150 hours straight plowing snow, four hours sleeping, then back on the road.”
Over the years, with the expansion of city facilities, the number of emergency calls increased. “It was more than a 9 to 5 job,” he said, and could include problems with broken windows, vandalism, broken pipes or no heat. “The pool was open 365 days a year. The Police Station doesn’t close. The Community Center is open into the night. At the theater, what if there’s no heat, or the popcorn machine or the ice maker’s not working. The popcorn machine’s important because that’s for the public.”
Houchens lives in Bowie and graduated from Parkdale High School in 1980. Instead of knowing just one trade, Houchens was always eager to learn more about how things work in the facilities he maintained. Whenever he took on a new project, he asked questions and expanded his skill set. “I got to see how the buildings work, work with the contractors and learn how things were supposed to work.”
Houchens’ family members still work for the city. His wife Gaye runs the beloved Mom’s Morning Out program. His son Matthew Houchens works on the street crew, and son-in-law Doug White works part time at the Youth Center. Houchens has a daughter, Courtney, and one granddaughter. In his retirement, Houchens looks forward to spending time hunting and fishing, and working on restoring a 1957 Chevrolet Nomad Wagon. He looks forward to building a cabin on his 40 acres of land near Paw Paw, W.Va., rich in wildlife including bear, bobcat, turkey, fox squirrel and, of course, whitetail deer. “To enjoy hunting, you just need to dress well and keep warm, with good wool socks and plenty of insulated clothing.” Tim Houchens is always prepared for every eventuality.