PS 94 will be getting an Early Childhood Development Center to be located on the school’s campus, where portable classrooms currently sit. Although the project is still in the early stages of development, the building is currently slated to be three stories, house Pre-K through third graders and accommodate 428 seats.

The community will have a chance to hear more details and discuss the project at a public hearing on Aug. 1.

Construction of the building will take two years and is supposed to be completed by 2010, said Margie Feinberg, a department of education (DOE) spokesperson.

"Hopefully it will alleviate overcrowding," said Marvin Shelton, the president of the Community Education District Council 10. He said that if the center can both prepare kids for school and help fix PS 94’s chronic overcrowding, it would be great for the district.

Shelton, however, also said it is unclear how the development center will fix overcrowding, especially if it will attract more students from other areas. It’s unclear who will be eligible to attend the new center.

Another of Shelton’s concerns is what will happen to the students who currently attend class in the portable classrooms. These classrooms will be taken down during construction, which is supposed to begin next summer, said PS 94 assistant principal Frank Lucerna.

PS 94 also has an annex building on Gun Hill Road for kindergarteners. It’s unclear if that building and the students there will be affected.

Greg Faulkner, Community Board 7 chairman, also has concerns about the center’s effect on the area. "Any education center is good, but it’s going to impact the existing community," he said.

One of his concerns is increased traffic – both of caregivers dropping off their kids and students’ foot traffic. At this early stage, however, Faulkner emphasized that these are initial concerns to be brought up at the hearing and not necessarily problems in need of fixing just yet.

"Some may be easily resolved," he said. "We want to make this work."

Editor’s note: The public hearing will be held on Aug. 1 at 6:30 p.m. The location is undetermined. For more information, call Community Board 7 at (718) 933 5650.