Jul 31, 2017 3 min read

North Strabane Township has been talking about putting a YMCA facility within its boundaries for at least five years.

Think about it – the Beatles went from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “Let It Be” in five years.

The Hoover Dam was built in five years. America’s involvement in World War II lasted a little more than three-and-a-half years. The process of bringing a YMCA to North Strabane has been, to summon the Fab Four again, one long and winding road.

The road has not yet reached its terminus, but it’s looking like, at long last, a YMCA facility in North Strabane is inching closer to reality.

The township’s supervisors last week approved contributing $2 million to the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh toward the construction of a YMCA branch, which will cost between $12 million and $14 million.

The payments from the township will be made over five years, with $400,000 being drawn each year from the gaming revenue it receives from The Meadows Racetrack & Casino.

In the early part of this decade, North Strabane Municipal Park had been mooted as a site for the Y, but where it will ultimately end up has yet to be determined.

As recently as June, it looked like the agreement with the YMCA was in jeopardy, thanks to a noncompete clause included in an agreement by the Y, but the board changed course when it was settled that the township and the Y would not be offering the same kinds of services.

According to Frank Siffrinn, the township’s manager, “We don’t want to compete with them, they don’t want to compete with us.”

A YMCA will not be sprouting up next week in North Strabane, considering a site must be found and money must be raised. But having a Y near Washington, whenever it does finally arrive, will be welcome.

Both the YMCA and the YWCA had locations in Washington for decades, and are still fondly remembered by longtime residents as being thriving community centers and places where they learned to swim and engaged in other athletic endeavors. However, as Washington struggled in the wake of the region’s deindustrialization and its loss of population, both facilities lost members and eventually closed their doors.

Having a Y in the community can provide many benefits. Most obviously, of course, Y facilities provide a low-cost way for residents to engage in activities that improve their health and well-being.

This is particularly important at a moment when many of our health-care woes can be traced to our largely sedentary lifestyles. Classes of various types are also made available at YMCA facilities and, like decades ago, a Y can nurture a sense of community.

Siffrinn cautioned it’s not “a done deal” and an assortment of issues still need to be worked out.

But the fact that the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh and North Strabane Township have reached this point after so long is reason for township residents – and, indeed, anyone who lives near the township – to be grateful.