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Almost all the way home Mail Tribune / Steve Johnson Santo Garcia of Preservation Painting puts finishing touches Monday on a 672-square-foot home being built in the Medford Armory parking lot. The Home Builders Association will auction off the house, constructed with donated labor and materials, to raise money for Honduran victims of Hurricane Mitch. The house is expected to be finished Thursday, hours ahead of schedule. By Dani Dodge More than 100 carpenters, electricians and construction workers are working nights, weekends and holidays to build a house in the Medford Armory parking lot in just 11 days. And, by golly, it looks like they will do it. Ahead of schedule. "We�re light-years ahead of a normal schedule," said Randy Jones, who is coordinating the project for the Home Builders Association of Jackson County. "It has all the parts of a regular house, but in this situation we are able to coordinate the inspectors and building officials and get multiple different trades working together at the same time. Normally that doesn�t happen." Normally, building this 672-square-foot, Craftsman-style cottage would take 90 to 120 days. The house � which will be auctioned off at the Jackson County Home Show this weekend � will benefit Hondurans who lost their homes to Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The project is a first in the nation, said Jones, a board member and secretary for the association. "The reason we can do this is the spirit of cooperation," Jones said. "The hardwood guys got here at 9 a.m. Sunday and stayed to finish until 2 a.m. (Monday) so the cabinet guys could get started Monday morning." Work started on the house on Labor Day. By the time it�s finished � which organizers expect will be on Thursday, several hours ahead of schedule � about 130 people will have worked on the project. All labor and materials have been donated. It will be on display at the Home Show Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The house will be auctioned off at 4 p.m. Sunday. After the auction, the builders will construct a foundation at the successful bidder�s property and transport and set up the home there. Between the auction and a raffle, the home builders hope to give World Vision Honduras $90,000 � enough for about 30 Honduran homes. The houses will be placed on land purchased by John Duke, owner of Superior Athletic clubs. In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch left 2 million people homeless. Many of those people still have no permanent shelter over their heads and instead live in cardboard shanties. The homes built with the auction proceeds will go to families in Hatillo and Trapiche. Honduran native Lilian Johnson, 26, is the ambassador for the project. The Eagle Point woman moved to Southern Oregon after she married Dan Johnson, the founder of Operation Shoebox, in 1996. "I�m just so thankful," Johnson said. "This is my new home: Southern Oregon, and I�m really proud that people from my new home are helping my other home." Much of what is left to do at the home is finish work. On Monday, contractors were hanging doors, placing cabinets, painting and installing a temporary ramp to make the home wheelchair accessible during the home show. Jones said at this point there are at least five or six serious bidders on the project. But additionally, some community groups who have heard about the effort � such as the Medford Rogue Rotary � have simply volunteered money to build additional homes for the Hondurans. The association also will hold a raffle. A $5 raffle ticket purchase will build one square foot of finished home for a family. Among the items being raffled are a flat screen television set, a digital camera and a Hawaiian vacation for two. One woman sent in $500 for raffle tickets. Johnson said everyone involved has been heartened by the support. He said passersby just stop by the parking-lot-turned-construction-site daily to offer words of encouragement to the workers. "People are coming in and thanking the guys for donating their time and materials and saying what a great cause it is," Johnson said. "It�s a really feel-good type thing." For more information and silent bid request forms, call 773-2872. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA