MUKILTEO – The fate of the old church is in doubt.
The Mukilteo Presbyterian Church, built in 1907, is up for sale. Members are moving their congregation to a new church complex at 4514 84th St. SW, the former Nelson family farm.
“We absolutely need more space,” church member Mim Loree said.
The old church, at 822 Third St. in Old Town, is in an area zoned for residential uses by the city.
“They wouldn’t let us expand,” she said of the city.
The old church building, a parking lot and an annex that formerly housed a post office and now the Mukilteo Food Bank, together are for sale for $800,000. Mukilteo Presbyterian is willing to sell the 8,000-square-foot church alone for $450,000 and the other parts individually, church member Russ Podmayer said.
“We’ve had quite a few lookers,” Podmayer said. “We haven’t had any offers yet.”
Church members say they’d like to see the old building preserved, but aren’t sure how it can be done.
“Nobody has come up with a scheme that would make that building pay for keeping it there,” said church member Ann Collier, who is also a member of the Mukilteo Historical Society.
“We like it the way it is, but it’s so full now,” said Marg Caley, who has attended the church since 1922, when she was 2 years old.
Caley said she was glad that the stained-glass windows in the church, installed in honor of past members, will be saved and moved to the new building.
Thought was given to turning the old church into a museum, Collier said. But it would be a poor location compared with the building currently used as the museum, the historic lighthouse, which gets more traffic, she said.
Another possible use would be as a wedding chapel, or even a residence, members said. But the old building would require major improvements, such as to plumbing and restrooms – “and that comes for a lot of money,” Collier said.
Mukilteo Presbyterian is still holding services in the old church. The first building at the new location isn’t expected to be finished until next spring, Podmayer said. If the old church is sold before then, the congregation has looked into several options, such as meeting in a school and renting commercial space for offices, he said.
Mukilteo Presbyterian has worked to raise money for the new church for nearly five years, Podmayer said, and has about $2 million of the estimated $5 million needed.
Planned later for the five-acre complex are a sanctuary, classrooms, events building, administrative offices and sports facilities, depending on how much money can be raised, members said.
Church members also are contemplating saving the brick building that served as the house on the Nelson farm, Loree said. A gift shop is now located in the building, and the church is having weekly fund-raising teas there from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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