KIRKLAND, Wash. - A small congregation on the eastside was hoping to get its old chapel back.

They had big plans for it, but those plans quickly fell apart.

There's not much more time for Brian Goldstein to admire the old chapel, built in 1928.

For the past 40 years, it's been a part of a funeral home near downtown Kirkland.

KING

For the past 40 years, the chapel has been a part of a funeral home near downtown Kirkland. But before that, the building was across the street, the focal point of Northlake Unitarian Church.

But before that, the building was across the street, the focal point of Northlake Unitarian Church.

With new homes on the way where the chapel now sits, the plan was to move it back to its original home and make it part of the church again.

"We thought this was a great opportunity to have a charming building that we could move and develop for another half the cost that it takes to develop the same structure in Kirkland," Goldstein said.

But that simple idea quickly got bogged down in bureaucratic red tape leading to plenty of aggravation and frustration for the small congregation.

The city says the biggest issue was what the church wanted to do with the chapel once it was moved a relatively short distance. They wanted to put in a new daylight basement and in that basement have daycare services.  The city says that created all sorts of new zoning and building restrictions which had to be put into place for safety reasons."

"That triggered a whole set of new requirements.  The original concept was, they just wanted to remove this historic building and put it on a new foundation.  And that was something that relatively simple to do," Kirkland City Manager Dave Ramsey.

The city says it received formalized plans of what the church wanted to do only one week ago, not nearly enough time to work through problems.

The church admits it was new to this very complicated process of critical permits and paperwork, with pressure building to move the chapel soon so construction of the new homes could start.

On a recent visit to the chapel, Goldstein pointed to one of the building’s smaller pews.

“I think we'll put it in our entry way,” he said, “Remember the chapel -- in memoriam."

At this point, church members are salvaging what they can.

They've given up  and are prepared to see the chapel torn down next week.

Both sides say what happened is a good reminder that when it comes to planning and permitting issues, get started early, get professional advice and ask lots of questions.