8 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 30, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
New Sunnyside school a step closer to reality
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com
A two-story building in Sunnyside that
was home to a historic garage built in the
1920s passed another hurdle this month
toward becoming a middle school.
Th e School Construction Authority
(SCA) agreed to purchase the abandoned
property at 38-04 48th St. last year, which
is located adjacent to houses within the
Sunnyside Gardens Historic District. Th e
SCA held several public meetings outlining
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their plan and received approvals
from Community Board 2 and the
School Education Council in 2016.
On Nov. 20, the City Council
Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public
Siting and Maritime Uses unanimously
approved of the SCA’s plan to turn the
building into a 697-seat middle school.
Since the site is on the National Register
of Historic Places, the SCA has had to
work with the State Historic Preservation
Offi ce to receive approval. Th e agency has
faced backlash from Sunnyside residents
because of its historical signifi cance.
Although the 25,000-square-foot site
is not technically within the historic district,
it was constructed by award-winning
architect Clarence Stein. He constructed
a garage there to allow Sunnyside
Gardens residents to park their cars.
Stein is considered by many as the
father of the “garden city” aft er he
designed one of the fi rst planned communities
in Sunnyside Gardens between
1924 and 1928. His design was implemented
in cities across the nation.
Consisting of 12 “courts,” buildings
within the 77-acre Sunnyside Gardens
Historic District have private terraces
that overlook a shared courtyard to foster
community.
Kelly Murphy, director of real estate
services for the SCA, and Michael
Mirisola, director of external aff airs for
the SCA, presented their plan to fi ve
members of the seven-person subcommittee
last week. Th ough the design
phase is still in its early stages, the school
would be four or fi ve stories high and will
include a cafeteria, gymatorium, science
labs, music and art rooms and an outdoor
play area.
Mirisola told the subcommittee that
the SCA is committed to working with
the community to preserve any historic
details of the building. Th ough not
required, the agency will organize a community
group that will provide input
into the design. Th e SCA did this with a
school site in Jackson Heights and other
schools around the city, he said.
“We’re committed to working with
them to create something there that will
be appropriate and will harken back to
the original garage, which has undergone
extensive renovations,” he said. “We will
try and work to bring some of those
details back in the proposal.”
Parents in the neighborhood have been
asking the city for years to build a middle
school in School District 30 since
students who live in Sunnyside have
no zoned middle school and have been
forced to travel to other neighborhoods.
Residents who live in Sunnyside
Gardens argue that the building, which
was previously used as a billiard hall but
has been abandoned since 2013, should
be preserved because of its history.
In a Community Board 2 meeting last
October, several Sunnyside residents
who live near the proposed school argued
that the SCA should choose a diff erent
location.
Jeff rey Kroessler, a Sunnyside Gardens
resident and an urban historian, said that
while he does not oppose a school in the
neighborhood, he does not agree with the
site location.
“If public monies are going to be used,
it has to take into account the National
Register listing,” Kroessler said. “I am
opposed to this because I don’t believe
this is a good site and for a lot of reasons
it will have an adverse eff ect on the
neighborhood and the residences and
especially the historic houses that back
up against this.”
Th e site overlooks several backyards
in the Sunnyside Historic District.
Councilwoman Deborah Rose asked
Murphy and Mirisola if the agency had
any plans to create a buff er zone so as to
not disturb nearby residents.
“How much of a guarantee do we have
that this is going to be built sort of contextually
as requested by the community
and that the buff er will be an actuality?”
she said.
Mirisola said the SCA could construct
a wall in between the property and the
backyards and that the agency will also
work with the community group and
architects to hammer out the details.
He also added that the State Historic
Preservation Offi ce has outlined guidelines
that the SCA must follow when
designing the building.
Th e building has gone through many
transformations. Many of the original
features, like the adjoining tower and
intricate brickwork, have since been
removed. Aft er inspecting the building,
Mirisola said, the State Historic
Preservation Offi ce determined that the
structure could not be preserved and will
be torn down.
Th e plans will need to be approved
by the city and the SCA must enter
the design phase with recommendations
from the community group.
“Th e community wanted us to go
back to that original design or preserve
what is there but as you can see what’s
there is nothing like what was built,”
Mirisola said. “Our president Lorraine
Grillo actually said she thinks that when
all is said and done, what we build is
going to look more like the original
building than that does now.”