The details of a proposed $3 million facade renovation for the Butler County Government Center stir a thought about the birth of our nation’s capital.

George Washington envisioned an imposing city, symbolic of the greatness and fairness of a free, fearless, prospering people. In 1791 he commissioned Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a French immigrant surveyor and veteran of the American Revolution, to lay out the 100-square-mile federal District of Columbia.

According to the Smithsonian magazine, L’Enfant’s design was based on European models, but translated to American ideals. “The entire city was built around the idea that every citizen was equally important,” L’Enfant biographer Scott Berg told the Smithsonian. “The mall was designed as open to all comers, which would have been unheard of in France.”

L’Enfant made Congress the focal point, setting the Capitol on a hill with a commanding view of the Potomac River and the Capital Mall. The executive mansion — the White House — was assigned a lesser, lower spot at one side of the mall. It was a radical idea at the time to situate the head of state below the house of commoners.

The design inspired state and county capitals across the nation. Ornate and imposing courthouses dot county seats throughout Pennsylvania, including in Butler County. It’s a 200-year-old benchmark that commands respect and preservation.

So it’s in defense of this tradition that the question should be asked: Is the facade work scheduled for the government center really the best option?

The renovations are necessary because iron rebar is rusting inside the beige panels covering the exterior of the building, which was completed in 1991. One panel came loose recently and had to be secured, according to John Campbell, director of county facilities and maintenance.

More than 200 windows also will be replaced. Metal trim on the windows is rusting.

The plan is to secure the existing panels using horizontal and veritcal steel strips, then covering them with insulated, 3-inch-thick panels with a light brown, aluminum exterior.

We’re trying to picture that. We can’t help seeing a colossal carwash, tucked between the courthouse, the Butler Eagle building and the Sen. Walter Lowrie House, home of the county Historical Society.

Maybe it won’t be that bad. It probably won’t be. The public won’t be able to judge until the project’s done.

In the county’s defense, there are limited options. Stone or brick would be prohibitively heavy — and many times more expensive than aluminum. Anything similar to the current panels would pose challenges: Make them heavier, and they’ll be more likely to pull loose; lighter, and they’ll be subject to the whims of Western Pennsylvania weather.

As Campbell describes it, the company making the aluminum panels would custom-make them after taking detailed laser measurements of the government center exterior.

Before the panels are made, would it be possible — even practical — to present some material samples for public inspection and comment?

We have an array of artists, architects, historians and others who might offer some input into this project, even under the assumption that our options are limited.

For many years to come, the decision will weigh on the first impressions of many dignitaries — political, government and legal figures — at the front entrance of Butler County’s government. It should be the best impression we can render.