Jeff Oliphant wanted to do something nice for the area’s disabled veterans – offer them a warm and dry spot where they could watch the Auburn Veterans Day Parade last Saturday.

He had just the place picked out: his 89,000-square-foot, three-story Auburn Professional Plaza building nearing completion on East Main Street east of Auburn City Hall.

Getting the building – bare concrete floors, unfinished walls for starters – ready for people to be inside a month before the expected completion date, however, would prove a tall order for the 70-man crew of Oliphant’s general contractor, Sierra Construction Company.

But the workers were up to the challenge, and the vets got their nest.

One disabled veteran, retired by a serious illness from the U.S. Navy Submarine Service, appreciated Oliphant’s gesture.

“Oh, this is great,” said Dave, who asked that only his first name be used. “I don’t think I would have been able to handle it in the rain. It’s a nice, warm place to see this parade.”

Bob Graff, Sierra’s construction superintendent, explained just how down to the wire it all came.

“We had the fire alarm panel cleared Friday morning, and we passed the elevator inspection by 11 a.m. Friday,” Graff said. “This is the first time the elevator has been used. The gas meters just came in. The deck was finished Thursday. Tree grates came in Thursday, we planted the trees Friday, and we took the fences off of Main Street Friday. We got a floor scrubber here, and we scrubbed all these floors, cleaned out the whole thing. We took two containers of trash out of here Thursday and Friday.

“…There’s been a lot of touch ups going on. We’re finding roof leaks that we didn’t know about until today,” Graff added.

Oliphant said his original goal was to have the entire building completed by parade day.

“We came close,” Oliphant said. “But it’s far enough along that we are proud to host 60 veterans and their families today. It’s been a mad rush. We worked with City government and the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs and other state agencies to invite people in. Given the weather today, it was very nice to be able to provide a warm environment to honor our veterans.

“…Our vets are important to us,” Oliphant added. “The military has maintained our freedom from the founding of this country, and to respect and honor them is the right thing to do.”

Roy Petersen, 88, a soldier in General George Patton’s Third Army, was one of the lucky ones who got the invite. He took in the view from a corner window and was thankful to be there.

As he watched the parade below, he thought of the many comrades in arms who didn’t come back.

“There were so many of them,” Petersen said.

Auburn Professional Plaza will include private and public offices along with medical office and commercial space. The City of Auburn will lease the entire second floor and part of the third.