NORTH BEND - The home-building market may be in the doldrums, but a local religious community has kept builders busy at least for two weekends.

The Jehovah's Witnesses are raising two kingdom halls and an administrative building next to the Waterfall Community Health Center on Waite Street.

And they are doing it quickly.

The Wednesday before last, the plot of land was little more than a couple foundations. As of Thursday, hundreds of volunteer Witnesses had finished the shells of all three buildings and had shifted their focus to installing drywall and other interior work. By the end of the weekend, they should have put in cabinets, electrical and plumbing lines, put down tiles and applied several coats of paint.

"We're really seeing a crescendo of work," said Cleve Piatt, a local contractor who is serving as the project overseer.

It may be an unusual sight for locals used to seeing projects take months rather than days, but it's nothing new for Piatt and his fellow Witnesses.

Pioneered about a quarter century ago, the quick-build technique relies on a willing base of volunteers.

Piatt estimates that more than 1,200 people will have had a hand in the construction, with as many as 700 on site at one time.

The local congregations number more than 300, with at least a third of them actively working on the site. Others help in secondary roles, providing transportation or places to stay.

The rest of the volunteers come from all over Oregon, traveling from as far away as Salem, Burns and the California border. Some stay in trailer parks, while others are invited into the homes of local Witnesses.

Loren Leslie, who is the project's food service overseer, expects to have organized the equivalent of 10,000 meals, which he started planning out two months in advance.

"It's challenging but it's fun," he said.

The Witnesses pull from a list of about 2,700 people who have volunteered to build halls throughout the region. The groups helped build a new hall in Bandon a couple years ago, and another one in Florence several years before that. Leslie has helped out on about a handful, while Piatt is a veteran of well over two dozen.

The local congregation has been worshipping in a kingdom hall on Andrews Road in Bunker Hill since the 1970s. Piatt said the decision to move into North Bend was out of an interest to find a more central location. Site prep work began last September, and major construction work began last Thursday through Sunday. Provided that all the building inspections pass muster, the religious community hopes to move into its new home within the week. Each building is about 5,000 square feet.

Steve Werst, North Bend's building official, said he's been paying inspection visits almost daily, sometimes he's come over twice.

"That's the pace they were going," he said.

It's the largest number of people he's seen working on a project.

"It's quite an experience," he said, "but they've done pretty good."

All the materials were purchased through donations to the church, and the costs of construction are much reduced thanks to all the volunteer labor, Piatt said.

Although work may be wrapping up in a couple days on Waite Street, there is still plenty of help needed in the area. After North Bend, Witnesses have projects lined up in Corvallis, Veneta and Rogue River.

"It's nice to be part of something where you are able to give to each other," Leslie said.