The building was designed by noted Italian engineer Pier Luigi Nervi and is one of only a few buildings he designed outside of Italy. It opened January 13, 1963 as a replacement for a series of sidewalk bus loading areas that existed between 166th and 167th streets further south. The building is constructed of huge steel-reinforced concrete trusses, fourteen of which are cantilevered from supports in the median of the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, which it straddles. The building contains murals as well as busts of George Washington and Othmar Amman, the civil engineer who designed the bridge. The building received the 1963 Concrete Industry Board’s Award.