East Tulsa House Torn Down

The city of Tulsa resolved an extreme case of building code violations Thursday, with the demolition of a house that towered over a neighborhood.<br/><br/>As News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan explains, The

Thursday, July 6th 2006, 3:02 pm

By: News On 6

The city of Tulsa resolved an extreme case of building code violations Thursday, with the demolition of a house that towered over a neighborhood.

As News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan explains, The owner ignored years of warnings to stop adding on to the house without permits, which a decade later, went from one side of his lot to the other.

The neighbors arrived early. They wanted a front row seat so they wouldn't miss a thing. With their lawn chairs, and more than a few smiles, they waited for the demolition to start.

Jim Powell: "Well I think it's time and this is a sad case of overbuilding and there was no reason for it."

The problem was this giant home, built almost entirely without city permits. This is the kind of thing an inspector would catch - a powerline draped through a room to the meter the homeowner had surrounded with walls. The house had sagging floors and ceiling beams and walls in odd places. Some of the materials were new, some appeared to be salvaged scraps.

Former neighborhood inspections supervisor Russell Gray: "It's sort of like what I imagined."

Outside, every inch of ground was covered. The back yard had a heated pool, but inspectors found it was improperly tapped into gas and sewer lines. The place was a wreck outside and in, even before the backhoe started biting. It took just an hour, but the neighbors wanted to remember it forever.

Jam Bowling: "It's unbelievable, it's like he couldn't stop or something."

Amber Inthason: "It was like something that someone needed to do with their time and it had a lot of creativity, it was interesting."

The process that ended with the demolition started with a complaint to neighborhood inspections years ago. The owner of the house, Dan Tucker, got a permit to build a carport, but didn't stop there, despite threats of legal action.

Angela Bradley with the City of Tulsa: "So he chose not to, and this is what happens."

The neighbors think they've finally saved their neighborhood from an overzealous do it yourselfer, and hope to buy the property, to make sure no one builds on it again.