Chalk up one political victory for Lower Manhattan kids.

Just as community and school officials were losing hope that Millennium High School would have the funds to move to 75 Broad Street in September, Gov. Pataki announced on April 24 that government money will ensure that the school gets its Downtown home after all.

During a major speech on rebuilding plans for Lower Manhattan, the governor said that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will contribute up to $3 million for the school, and he called on the private sector to chip in as well.

The LMDC money, combined with funds that local elected officials had previously committed and contributions that were being sought from other sources, will pay for the construction work to transform at least one floor of an office building at 75 Broad Street into a school.

The new school opened last year, with just a ninth-grade class, in the High School for Art and Design on the Upper East Side. Community leaders said the school would likely have no building to grow into in September if the LMDC did not make a commitment by the end of this month.

Getting the school ready for September will still be a challenge. School officials and representatives of Community Board 1 will begin formally interviewing architects on April 28 and renovation work at 75 Broad Street is scheduled to begin as early as next month.

“We will make this schedule, but it’s an ambitious one,” said Roy Moskowitz, spokesman and counsel for School District 2. “Realistically, we’re are aiming for a partial buildout for this September to enable us to accommodate all students that have been enrolled to date, and we’ll move into the remainder of the space in the future as the school adds more students.” Moskowitz said it was unclear whether a gym, an auditorium or other facilities besides classrooms and office space will be ready by September.

District 2 applied for LMDC money last year, and in recent months Community Board 1, education officials and local elected officials had been urging the LMDC to make a commitment, at the same time as they urgently sought private funds. They said that if money was not secured by the end of this month, there would not be enough time to get the school ready. But the LMDC put off a decision, until the governor’s grand announcement.

“I’m glad to see the governor follow suit,” said Councilman Alan Gerson, who committed $1 million in Council money for the school. Sheldon Silver, speaker of the State Assembly, and Assemblywoman Deborah Glick had promised a total of $2 million.

Nancy Poderycki, a spokeswoman for the LMDC, said the exact amount provided by the agency will be based on how much money the school is able to raise from private sources.

“It depends on what the need is,” she said. “We will provide the funding to make sure the high school can open in September.”

Battery Park City resident Rhonda Erb, whose son, Andrew, is a ninth-grader at Millennium and who heads the school’s parents association, said she had been confident that the LMDC money would come through. “I thought it was just a matter of time. But I’m glad to see that they can start on some construction now.”