You are reading

Plans Revealed For 476-Seat Elementary School At Former White Castle Site

PS 398

Purcell Architects

May 10, 2016 By Michael Florio

The new elementary school slated for the former White Castle regional headquarters site will stand five stories tall with a rooftop playground, according to building plans.

The School Construction Authority filed plans with the Department of Buildings on Monday to begin plumbing work at 69-01 34th Ave.

The filings were first reported by YIMBY.

Purcell Architects, the firm designing the school, has released design plans for the building on its website. The school will be called P.S. 398Q and will serve 476 students between pre-K and fifth grade, according to the firm.

The 65,000-square-foot building will have pre-K classrooms, a student cafeteria and kitchen on the first floor.

The second floor will feature first and second grade classrooms, the administration suite and principal’s office, and a music classroom. More classrooms, a library and a guidance suite will be on the third floor.

The fourth floor will hold special education classrooms, an art classroom, a science classroom, staff support spaces and a combination gym-auditorium.

A 4,000-square-foot rooftop playground will sit on top of the building, along with mechanical space.

The building’s look is influenced by the Jackson Heights neighborhood style, which is known for its historic architectural design, according to the Purcell Architects.

Council Member Daniel Dromm recommended this location for a new school a year ago, to combat overcrowding in Jackson Heights schools. The SCA went forward with the proposal and Community Board 3 approved it in May 2015.

Plans to demolish the White Castle building on this location were filed with the DOB in January.

Officials expect the school to open in September 2019.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Met Council leader warns of ‘catastrophe’ for low-income families in Queens due to lack of pandemic-era federal food aid

Mar. 28, 2023 By Bill Parry

As an accomplished legislator, law professor and media personality with broad experience in government and not-for-profit organizations, Met Council CEO and executive director David Greenfield is well aware of the power of words. With Passover arriving on Wednesday, April 5, and with federal pandemic food assistance no longer available to low-income families in Queens, the leader of the nation’s largest Jewish charity organization warned of a coming “catastrophe” and called for the city to step up to provide $13 million in emergency funding for pantries to help New Yorkers facing food insecurity and elevated costs of living in the borough.

Pair of Queens community organizations will activate public spaces to celebrate local cultures

Two Queens community organizations are among an inaugural cohort of five groups citywide that will lead new projects to celebrate local cultures and histories in public spaces under a new initiative called The Local Center in a partnership between Urban Design Forum and the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD).

At a time when New York is grappling with an uneven pandemic recovery and as displacement looms large for communities and neighborhoods across the five boroughs, this new endeavor will convene interdisciplinary teams to transform and activate the shared spaces where cultural traditions flourish — and importantly, center the community visions and leadership that is too often left out of the process.