The owner of the Hilton Pittsburgh is working to resolve $317,273 in bills owed to a contractor and get the hotel's stalled $25 million renovation rolling again before the G-20 economic summit in September, a top official said yesterday.

"We want to get that project finished as much as anybody," said Harris Mathis, chief operating officer for Florida-based Shubh Hotels LLC, which purchased the Hilton in 2006.

In a short phone interview, Mr. Mathis would not comment on the financial woes that prompted contractor P.J. Dick to walk off the job last month claiming $317,273 in unpaid bills.

It marked the second time in the last year that the contractor has stopped working at the site after not being paid.

Over the last year and a half, more than a dozen other companies have filed liens or claims seeking payment from the Hilton owner. Many but not all have since been settled.

Shubh also is facing litigation that it has not made more than $34,000 in required pension, fringe benefit, annuity and dues-related payments for hotel workers represented by four different unions.

Mr. Mathis said Shubh was working with P.J. Dick on the $317,273 unpaid debt "to get that caught up to get them back on the job." Asked when he thought work could resume, he replied, "I hope soon."

His statements mark Shubh's first public comments about the Hilton since the Post-Gazette reported Tuesday that work had stopped at the iconic hotel, Pittsburgh's largest, leaving a partially completed steel skeleton at the city's doorstep.

With only three months to go before the summit, which will bring world leaders to Pittsburgh, the unfinished work has attracted the attention of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, who called it an "eyesore." Both have urged the owner to get the construction going again before the G-20.

Mr. Mathis said that is Shubh's goal as well.

"We want to make it look better, of course, and we plan to do that," he said.

But he added, "There's always renovation in any city. I think the interior of the hotel is great. The rooms are finished. It's a great hotel."

The $25 million in renovations, started more than two years ago, have included new carpeting, ceilings, flat screen televisions, painting and other improvements to guest rooms. Outside, the stalled addition was to have included a swimming pool, health club, expanded banquet facilities and other work.

P.J. Dick isn't the only contractor still owed money.

Greg Carnforth, vice president of Chester Pool Systems Inc. of New Albany, Ind., said yesterday Shubh still owes his company $129,000 for a pool and spa that were to be part of the construction.

The 14-foot-by-27-foot custom-built pool was designed to follow the curved contour of the Hilton addition and is still sitting in Chester's storage yard. The company can't sell it to another customer because it was crafted specifically for the Hilton space.

Chester filed a lien against Shubh last August for nonpayment. After Shubh officials pleaded that they were unable to get financing to get the Hilton project moving until the lien was resolved, Chester reached a settlement with the hotel, Mr. Carnforth said.

He said it required Shubh to pay $30,000 at that time and the rest under a payment plan. Shubh made the first $30,000 payment, but has paid nothing since then, he said, adding that he has given Chester's attorney authorization to file another lien.

"They won't return your phone calls. You get nothing out of them," he said.

Mr. Mathis said the latest plans for the addition do not include a swimming pool. "We had pretty much decided to go with a health spa and not a swimming pool."

As for whether Chester would be paid, "That's what we're discussing right now," Mr. Mathis said.

Meanwhile, engineering and architectural firm Whitney Bailey Cox & Magnani LLC is owed $100,000 in structural design fees related to the renovations and has not been paid in over a year, said George Newman, senior vice president, financial operations.

He said employees in the Pittsburgh office have seen their pay cut and their hours reduced as a result.