DALLAS, TX (CNN/WFAA) -- A piece of Dallas history is being torn down brick by brick, by court order. An apartment building in the Oak Cliff section of the city was once the home of alleged presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. But the owner is having a difficult time tearing it down.
If the crumbling walls of the Oak Cliff Apartment complex could talk they might tell a tale of a dark history and a not too bright future.
When Jane Bryant learned that President Kennedy's alleged assassin had lived in apartment number 2 until early 1963, she was instantly taken with the place. She says, "Once I found out the historical value, I wanted to preserve it."
After buying the building in 2007, though, Bryant was ordered to bring it up to code, but she says one zoning obstacle after another prevented her from doing the necessary work. Last year, the city condemned the property and set a demolition deadline set for this Friday.
The owner has been caught between a sort of brick and a hard place. Even though she has been ordered to tear down this building by this weekend, she says she has been repeatedly denied a permit to do it. So we contacted the city of Dallas today to find out what the problem is here. And not long after that, a building inspector showed up here at the property with some answers.
The inspector wouldn't talk on camera, but told Bryant she can get a permit to do the demolition job on her own instead of having to go to the expense of having to hire a contractor. That's a big breakthrough she says that hasn't been possible until now. But it is bittersweet. Bryant says, "I am very sad to see it like this."
She will be able to save a lot of money, but she won't be able to save a piece of Dallas history.
Bryant says she plans to sell the bathtub and hundreds of bricks from the building on eBay.