A Brea limousine maker hard-hit by the recession says a Las Vegas ”green” initiative is bringing much-needed work to his company at a critical time.

Krystal Enterprises is building 26 compressed natural gas limos that will be put into service in a new, $8.4 billion resort and casino complex planned for the desert city. A second O.C. company, Clean Energy of Seal Beach, will build a new CNG refueling station in the complex, adding to several around the city the firm has already built.

“It’s definitely keeping us moving right now at a very difficult time,” said John D. Beck, Krystal’s executive vice president, as he walked through his company’s assembly area this week. “This order is a huge help to us. I think it’s definitely part of our future.”

The CNG limos are among many green initiatives planned for the six-tower, 67-acre project, CityCenter, whose builders hope it will be the biggest in North America to receive a coveted “LEED” environmental certification.

The limos don’t look or drive any differently than conventional versions, but will mean huge reductions in pollution output compared to limos that run on gasoline engines.

Krystal, which once employed as many as 800 people to crank out as many as 1,800 limousines a year, now employs a “couple hundred,” Beck said. The number of cars being produced is way down, with about 450 units this year.

The company saw its business nosedive after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then, after a recovery that took a few years, saw another drop because of the recession.

But now, Beck says, in part because of CityCenter’s project, operators of business fleets around Las Vegas are showing increasing interest in cleaner-burning vehicles. Several have contacted Krystal for cost estimates on CNG limos.

“We’re quoting on other fleets in the country that are doing the same thing,” Beck said.

The push for CNG cars and trucks could expand among business owners and government agencies, especially if helped along with federal stimulus dollars, he said.

Krystal makes “stretch” limos, and the term is not an exaggeration. They begin with brand-new cars that are built for the purpose and cannot be sold without being modified first.

“We’ll take this car after it’s stripped, cut it in half and stretch it out,” Beck said.

Next, a steel frame and other structures are added to give it a 72-, 100- or 120-inch wheel base, depending on the size of the limo being made; the CNG limos are 72-inch, five-doors.

A high-pressure fuel tank and fuel lines are added, as well as a high pressure regulator that reduces the fuel’s pressure before it reaches the engine. The engine itself is the same as in a conventional gasoline-powered car, though the limos will run exclusively on CNG.

After finishing touches, a silver paint job and placement of required placards on the outside of the car identifying it as CNG-fueled, the silver limos are ready to go.

“We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars testing this equipment,” Beck said. “We’ve crashed two cars in the front end, rear end, side hits.”

That, along with the high cost of converting each car — the cost comes out to more than $90,000 per car — was absorbed without complaint by the CityCenter project, Beck said.

“It’s not convenient to be green,” Beck said. “It costs more money, and there are not many places to refuel. They’re getting past all the hurdles, and that’s what green’s all about. They never wavered, regardless of the cost.”

The CityCenter will include energy-efficient buildings wth reflective rooftops and coated windows, water-saving technology, recycled building materials and other features.

“We call it intelligent luxury,” said Paul Berry, vice president of hotel operations for the Aria Resort and Casino, part of the CityCenter project.

Krystal was chosen because of a longstanding business relationship, he said.

“We’ve worked with them for years and years,” Berry said. “They’ve done our limousine fleets for us for several decades. They seemed to be the logical partner.”

(Artist’s rendering of planned CityCenter casino and resort complex in Las Vegas courtesy CityCenter.)

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