Talk on Grand Central Terminal engineer planned for Fairfield University Bookstore

Talk on Grand Central Terminal engineer planned for Fairfield University Bookstore

Image: Kurt Schlicting William J. Wilgus, the engineering mastermind behind the most complicated construction project in New York history, Grand Central Terminal, will be the topic of a free discussion on Wednesday, May 16 at the Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. Kurt Schlichting, Ph.D., author of a new book on Wilgus, will present "Grand Central's Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan" at 7 p.m.

Dr. Schlichting is the E. Gerald Corrigan Chair and professor of sociology and anthropology at Fairfield. He is the author of Grand Central's Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012) and Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Engineering, and Architecture in New York City (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001).

As chief engineer of the New York Central Railroad, Wilgus conceived the Grand Central Terminal, an engineering marvel, and then turned his attention to other transportation conundrums of the city, eventually having a profound effect on how people and goods moved over and under Manhattan Island.

Schlichting has long studied and researched Grand Central, Wilgus and transportation in New York City. His earlier book won the Professional/Scholarly Publishing Award in Architecture from the Association of American Publishers as well as rave reviews from top critics.

"Grand Central Terminal is celebrated for its Beaux-Arts style, but Kurt C. Schlichting looks behind the façade to see the hidden engineering marvels," wrote a reviewer for the New York Times Book Review.

Posted On: 05-01-2012 11:05 AM

Volume: 44 Number: 287