Paul Nicholson, trade center builder
Friday, February 2, 2007

By Jay Levin
Staff Writer

Paul G. Nicholson, a Port Authority engineer involved in construction of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, the World Trade Center and the Lincoln Tunnel's third tube, died Jan. 20 in Savannah, Ga.

The former Upper Saddle River resident was 81.  Mr. Nicholson retired in 1984 as the bi-state agency's assistant chief engineer of construction. He moved to Savannah in 1993.  "He was a no-nonsense type, impeccably dressed, articulate for a construction type and a great professional," said Frank Lombardi, the Port Authority's chief engineer.

Lombardi said Mr. Nicholson managed construction budgets of up to $300 million annually.  In the early 1960s, Mr. Nicholson was supervising engineer for construction of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in upper Manhattan.  The station was the first U.S. work of Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi, who designed the stadium for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Mr. Nicholson, a Manhattan native, joined the Port Authority in 1948 after receiving a degree in civil engineering from Manhattan College. For three years, he was on loan to the Department of State for a special assignment: construction of the U.S. pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair.  Dorothy Nicholson said her husband was interviewed by the Savannah media after the Sept 11, 2001, destruction of the World Trade Center. Several months later, the Nicholson's were in New York.

"We had a special VIP police boat to go to Ground Zero, but he just couldn't do it," Dorothy Nicholson said. "He was personally involved [in the construction], and he lost some good friends there. It's very emotional, even now."  The Nicholson's lived in Upper Saddle River for 27 years. For much of that time, Mr. Nicholson was a member of the borough's Board of Adjustment.

In addition to his wife of 57 years, Mr. Nicholson is survived by three daughters, Tara Nicholson Olson of Rye, N.Y.; Maura Nicholson de Visscher of Greenwich, Conn., and Ann Nicholson Brown of New Canaan, Conn.; and six grandchildren.  The funeral service was Jan. 24 in Savannah. A memorial service and internment will be held next Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Ascension Chapel, 650 Saddle River Road, Airmont, N.Y.

Copyright © 2007 The Record

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