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The next few months could determine the future of McKeesport's 120-year-old YMCA.

But one thing is for certain --- like the mission commander in the movie "Apollo 13," YMCA Executive Director Dexter Hairston says "failure is not an option."

In fact, he does more than say it. Hairston's got it posted in one of the upstairs classrooms used by the McKeesport Y's Teen LEAD empowerment program.

Hairston and others are awaiting the results of a report commissioned by the national board of the YMCA examining the challenges facing the local institution, including long-term debt, an aging building, and a depressed market.

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One problem the McKeesport Y doesn't suffer is a lack of local interest. In fact, the YMCA, located in a landmark building Downtown on Sinclair Street, remains a vital community asset.

It currently serves more than 5,000 people annually in various education and wellness programs, including 1,100 regular members who primarily use the fitness center, swimming pool, indoor running track, handball court and gymnasium.

The McKeesport Y also operates Camp T. Frank Soles, a 263-acre facility near Seven Springs, as well as two educational outreach centers at the city's public housing communities, Crawford Village and Harrison Village.

Hairston came to the YMCA in 2001 to oversee the Teen LEAD program.

He was named executive director last year after what current and former McKeesport YMCA board members privately tell Tube City Almanac was a period of lackluster oversight and leadership. They claim that partnerships with other local institutions were ignored, maintenance was deferred and fundraising was conducted informally or not at all, leading the McKeesport YMCA to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

New finance director Fred Vey Jr., who came to the McKeesport Y in March after working in development for LaRoche College and other institutions, is in charge of straightening out the books.

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This month, the McKeesport Y is trying to raise $30,000 in contributions for long-needed capital improvements. Board members and staff are meeting in person with potential donors to plead their case. They're hoping for individual donations of $1,000 and up.

Hairston admits that $30,000 is a modest goal, but says it was necessary to keep initial expectations low; the campaign is the first concerted fundraising effort by the McKeesport Y in several years.

"We're trying to have as many face-to-face meetings as possible," he says. Next week, staff, volunteers and board members will meet to discuss their progress and start planning for next year.

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The Y's mission has traditionally included athletics --- besides its fitness center, it sponsors basketball, swimming and dek hockey teams --- but one of the most crucial programs it currently offers might be its variety free homework help, tutoring, teen counseling and leadership seminars.

The programs are designed to encourage McKeesport kids to aspire to a life off the streets and following a career and life path of their choice.

"We make a big deal out of bringing in outsiders to talk about healthy decision making," Hairston says. "We want to make sure that kids see as many different faces doing positive things as they can."

McKeesport is a "sports-crazy town," he says. "Everyone wants to be the next NFL player. But playing football or basketball should be a path to getting a college education. You've got to have a plan B or even a plan C."

Students who have participated in the Y's leadership programs have gone on to nearly all of the region's colleges, Hairston says.

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One traditional function that endures in McKeesport despite being dropped by most other YMCAs is low-cost housing. Although almost all YMCAs once offered sleeping rooms and small apartments, the city's Y is one of only three in Allegheny County, and a handful in Pennsylvania, that still allow overnight stays.

Most of the McKeesport Y's 87 upstairs rooms are now occupied by people with physical disabilities, mental illness, or severely limited incomes. The residential program is self-supporting and funded in part through local and federal subsidies.

"It was the original concept of the YMCA, and we still get people who want to stay overnight" while they travel, Hairston says.

But the residents aren't a good fit with the people (many of them children) who use the Y's other programs.

"It's not a good operational mix," Hairston says. "We are looking at ways to separate the residential program."

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One way to keep fitness buffs and residents from bumping into each other might be for the YMCA to move the fitness and educational programs out of its historic 86-year-old building to another site in the city.

Though many members love the atmosphere, maintenance costs are steep and the entire building is in need of expensive repairs and improvements, Vey says.

"How much longer can we continue to occupy this building if we want to continue to grow?" Hairston says.

Another way for the McKeesport Y to grow, unfortunately, might be for it to surrender its independence.

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McKeesport's board members are currently considering a plan to merge the Y into the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, which absorbed the East Suburban YMCA in Wilmerding several years ago.

In fact, the McKeesport and Sewickley Ys are the only independent YMCAs left in Allegheny County --- and the Sewickley area's economic status is drastically different from the Mon-Yough area's, to put it mildly.

A merger would give the McKeesport YMCA access to marketing and personnel resources that it can't match on its own, Hairston says.

"They're a big metropolitan YMCA, and they have a strongly recognized organization throughout the area," he says.

The Greater Pittsburgh YMCA is already lending management expertise to the McKeesport YMCA, and with the help of the national YMCA, a group of management students recently fanned out through the Mon-Yough area to interview residents and help the McKeesport board set a direction for the institution.

"What are we going to look like in two or five years? Do we want to go in more of a wellness direction and do less with our programs, or vice versa?" Hairston says. "We're making decisions based on the facts, and listening to the community."

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Donations to the YMCA of McKeesport may be made via the United Way of Allegheny County (you must specify donor code 112) or sent to 523 Sinclair St., McKeesport, PA 15132.

The Y's offerings include health, fitness and swimming classes, and programs aerobics, aquatics, camping, family and youth development. Its facilities include a pool, gym, fitness center, weight room, aerobics/dance studio, handball/racquetball court, indoor running track, sauna/steam room, whirlpool/jacuzzi, and meeting facilities. Call (412) 664-9168.