Letter: New pool for a new generation

Published 6:15 am Saturday, April 30, 2022

To the Editor:

As one of the tour guides for Kam Wah Chung, I am excited to se what the excavation of the Gleason Pool site will find. The area of the pool and the surrounding area was China Town from around 1862 until the early 1900s. Several residents have found relics from that day in their own flowerbeds and donated them to the interpretive center for everyone to enjoy. Did you know that the land that the pool was built on was donated to the city by the Wah family, who are Dr. Ing Hay’s family? And, of course, the museum itself was donated to the city with the intent that it be used as a tribute to the Chinese history of the area.

This being said, how do I feel about the pool? Well, I have always been afraid of water, but my siblings and I learned to swim there and spent the majority of our summers at the pool, even into high school. My daughters learned to swim there and spent a lot of time there. My brother was on the swim team. I loved Gleason Pool and want to see other kids have the same opportunities we did.

I am sure my parents did not want to see their taxes go up in the ’50s and I do not enjoy seeing my taxes go up, but I am willing to pay my share so our community can have the benefits of such a beneficial facility. I am now retired and, as they say, on a fixed income. I would probably not use the pool — being caught in a swimsuit is a no-no for me. This will be for your kids and grandkids now, and I will gladly help foot the bill.

Leslie Traylor

John Day

Marketplace