Fort Worth Demolishes Wrong Vacant Home

City admits contract workers were off by one house in Friday's demolition

It's not unusual for homeowners to receive their neighbor's deliveries, but a demolition crew?

Crews knocked down the wrong vacant home at Lake Worth on Friday.

Four days later, there's not much to see at 9716 Watercress Drive.

"Yeah, it was a nice house," said Stephen Neumann, who lives a few houses down.

One lot over, at 9708 Watercress Drive, the address on an old mailbox is barely visible. The buildings, which were supposed to be demolished, hide in trees well off the street.

In a statement, the city of Fort Worth confirms that contractors demolished the wrong property:

"On July 12, 2013, contractors demolished the wrong property on Watercress Drive. The property to be demolished should have been 9708 Watercress Dr. The property that was demolished was a vacant structure located at 9716 Watercress Dr. City staff is meeting to determine what happened."

Residents on the quiet street on the western edge of Lake Worth say the mix-up is a bit hard to believe.

One neighbor called it egregious, but others said they are aren't as surprised.

"I just seen an excavator tearing that house down [and] was wondering why, because it was a pretty good house, wasn't all that bad, when this one next door has been needing tearing down for years," Neumann said.

"To be honest, all those houses up there have been kind of junky, so I see how they could get it mistaken for the wrong one," neighbor Samantha Farmer said.

It's "typical city," Neumann said, laughing.

The city said it would not say more on the matter until its investigation is complete.

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