To think: This chapel, this remarkable gem of architectural history, almost fell to a wrecking ball -- to make way for a dozen or so parking spaces and a little bit of greenery on a downtown lot.

The All Saints Chapel, built in 1874, was once the original place of worship for the Church of the Good Shepherd on Hillsborough Street.

But over the years, the church had grown and expanded, and church leaders determined the old chapel would have to be razed.

Despite being one of the state's last examples of the Carpenter Gothic Revival style of architecture, All Saints Chapel was set for demolition when developer Greg Hatem read a column about the impending loss -- and promptly galloped in on a white horse.

Hatem moved the church over to East Street and began a long labor of love and cash.

Lots of cash.

Just moving the chapel cost an arm and a leg. Then his company renovated it to its original glory, even adding a basement.

The Church of the Good Shepherd officially sold the chapel to Hatem for 10 bucks.

He has poured in about $1.5 million of his own.

Why so costly? For many decades, the chapel had been used for storage and the occasional Sunday school class. It was in disrepair and covered in layers of ugly brown paint.

Kevin John Hourihan, who specializes in carpentry renovations, said the recovery was painstaking.

Every bracket, every light fixture, every window sill, needed to be reinforced or replaced. Many pieces were replicated from old photos of the sanctuary.

"This is a hundred-year renovation," Hourihan said. "A hundred years from now, you should be able to walk on these floors and they'll be the same."

The downstairs walks a fine line between your standard church fellowship hall and an elegant downtown eatery.

It can easily accommodate a reception of 200 or more.

But make no mistake, the chapel is still a house of God.

The crew working on the building felt it when the workers got to the point of installing the massive stained-glass windows behind the altar and in the choir loft. The windows, repaired by a company in Statesville, had been in storage at the Church of the Good Shepherd for decades.

Until that day, boom boxes had been blaring at the site, workers shouting and, I dare say, occasionally using, um, salty language.

"It was a construction site," Hatem said.

But from the moment the stained glass was set, a sort of hush fell over the place. The music, and the voices, grew quiet.

So far two couples have gotten hitched in the newly renovated chapel. It will also be rented for meetings and other parties.

Hatem laughed when I asked how many years he figured he'd need to lease the chapel to recoup his costs.

"The rest of my life," he said.

Maybe that's why my colleague Samantha Smith, who has dated Hatem for years, seemed less than thrilled when he read my column and took on the project.

But ... she came around.

On Saturday she and Hatem will be married in the All Saints Chapel.

"If you can't get Greg into the church," Hatem quipped, "bring the church to him."

Funny, though, that on the occasion of Hatem's wedding, Raleigh's the one to receive the gift.