Gleason Pool is gone, and it’s still not clear whether it will be replaced.

Demolition on the site began on Monday, May 23, and was completed on Friday, May 27. The work to demolish Gleason Pool was done by Tidewater Construction.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department purchased the pool property and the neighboring Gleason Park from the city for a planned expansion of the Kam Wah Chung Heritage Site.

The vote on a $4 million bond measure to fund the construction of a new pool, meanwhile, is still undecided. The May 17 election remained a tie for two days before the no votes overtook the yes votes, eking out a narrow 6-vote lead. But with 16 ballots being challenged by the county clerk, the final outcome — and the fate of a new pool — remains in question (see related story, Page A1).

Also now in question is what will happen to the $2 million grant the city of John Day received to go toward the cost of a new pool.

City Manager Nick Green reiterated that the old pool — which opened in 1958 — was past its serviceable life and that is the reason the facility was torn down.

“John Day is not going to operate a pool that old,” he said. “There isn’t grant funding to rehab a pool that old; it’s a stupid waste of money. You’re on borrowed time as it is. You just tear it out and move on. That’s why there aren’t more pools at that age in communities. They weren’t designed to last indefinitely.”

Green said the city currently doesn’t have a contingency plan to construct a new pool in the event the bond fails. “At this stage ,we’re just waiting on the outcome of the pool bond vote,” he said.

On the other hand, he added, the city has 36 months from the date the agreement was signed to use the grant funds to construct a new pool.

“A lot can happen in 36 months,” Green said. “I wouldn’t have any problem at all with telling the council to accept the grant funding. We’ve got 36 months to decide what to do with it, if anything, or just simply return it. That’s why we aren’t in a hurry to develop a contingency. At this point, if the vote fails there isn’t going to be a pool opening in 2023.”

A final count of the pool bond is being held up by 16 ballots cast by voters from within the pool tax district that are being challenged. The ballots are unopened and were challenged because signatures on the ballot envelopes didn’t match signatures that are on file for those voters. Grant County Clerk Brenda Percy said that a final tally of the vote can be expected on Tuesday, June 7.