How do you move a 140-year-old synagogue? Very carefully

It wasn't a fast or long ride, but it was a significant one.

A sophisticated system of hydraulics and steady wheels going about 1 mph moved the 140-year-old former Adas Israel Synagogue about 30 feet from its Third and G streets NW location on Thursday. The relocation clears the way for the continued construction of Capitol Crossing, Property Group Partners' $1.3 billion, 2.2 million-square-foot development atop I-395

This is the second time the building — currently home to the Albert and Lillian Small Jewish Museum — has been relocated. In 1969, after Metro purchased the entire block near Judiciary Square, a group of Jewish historians petitioned to save it. An act of Congress cleared the way, and the synagogue was then moved from Sixth and G streets NW to Third and G.

“It’s not every day you see a building as historically significant and important to the region as this one relocated for a second time,” Bob Braunohler, Property Group Partners regional vice president, said in a statement. “We are pleased to support this effort that gives the synagogue a bigger and better location that will benefit future generations of Washingtonians.”

There is a third move in the building's future. In about 2 1/2 years, the synagogue will be relocated to Third and F streets NW, atop a Capitol Crossing parking garage. There, it will be part of a new, larger museum complex. Until then, the building will be closed to the public as it rests on a steel platform.

"This is an exciting day for the Jewish community and for Washington in general," Renaissance Centro founder Albert "Sonny" Small Jr., whose parents' names adorn the museum, said at the move. Small's grandfather, also named Albert Small, was important in the fight to save and move the building 46 years ago.

Thursday's move cost about $500,000, Property Group Partners said.

The synagogue was built in 1876 by German immigrants. Original construction cost: $4,000. In 1908, the first Adas Israel congregation moved out and the building became a series of storefronts.