By Adam Kramer
In an effort to alleviate community concerns and fears over the construction of the Glen Oaks School Campus, City Councilman-elect David Weprin (D-Hollis) organized a meeting between the School Construction Authority and community leaders last month.
The Dec. 12 meeting on the construction site gave the heads of area civic associations and neighbors the opportunity to discuss and examine the updated construction plans for the three new schools.
“What happened was the SCA had sent a representative to a November public meeting, but the guy did not have the answers to the community’s questions,” Weprin said. “So at their urging, I went to the SCA to set up another meeting.”
He said the majority of the concerns that the community had with the school campus were addressed. There are a few little points, he said, which need to be worked out.
Since the plans to build three new three schools, an outdoor playground and 250 parking places on a 32.7-acre plot of Creedmoor were unveiled, neighbors have clamored for clearly defined pedestrian routeComs into and out of the campus, no entry or exit into the complex on Commonwealth Boulevard, a separation between the elementary/junior high students and the high school students, and a plan for automobile and bus entry that would not drastically affect local traffic.
The Glen Oaks school campus is at 78-70 Grand Central Parkway North, on a block bounded by Grand Central Parkway to the north, Commonwealth Boulevard to the east, Union Turnpike to the south and the Cross Island Parkway to the west. It is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2003 at a cost of $203 million.
“I would say most of the issues were resolved,” Weprin said. “The construction is going very well. It is a huge improvement from the original plans, It is going to be beautiful — physically magnificent.”
But more importantly, he said, the new schools will alleviate the severe overcrowding in School Districts 26 and 29.
Corey Bearak, executive vice president of the Queens Civic Congress, said the meeting was helpful to local civic and community leaders because they were able to examine the construction plans in-depth. He said many of their questions about traffic, ballfields, entry and exit routes to the complex were answered.
“Most people came away satisfied,” Bearak said at the end of December. “I am glad the council member-elect stepped up to the plate to insure that community concerns were brought to the forefront.”
Lisa Marulli, of Glen Oaks, said School Board 26 is doing everything in its power to accommodate the needs of the community. She said a wide variety of issues were discussed at the meeting and there would be a future meeting to hash out the concerns not dealt with.
The 350-acre Creedmoor property consists of 75 buildings used to house a wide variety of city and state agencies. The state psychiatric hospital is concentrated in Building No. 40, the largest structure on the campus, and has five other buildings for a chapel, administration and a museum.
School District 26, which covers northeast Queens, and School District 29, which includes a large segment of southeast Queens, now operate at 5 percent above capacity at the elementary school level and right at capacity at the intermediate school level, the SCA said. Queens high schools are running 24 percent over capacity, according to the agency.
The elementary schools will hold 1,685 students: a 760-seat PS/IS 266Q and a 925-seat PS/IS 208Q serving Districts 26 and 29. The 1,182-seat high school — the High School of Teaching Professions — will be open to all Queens high school students.
Reach reporter Adam Kramer by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
