We heartily share the enthusiasm of county officials and historical preservation buffs at this week’s forthcoming announcement that the state historical commission is awarding $300,000 to help defray spiraling roof repair costs at the McLennan County Courthouse. Tribune-Herald staff writer Regina Dennis learned of the grant even before our county officials did.

Even so, we suggest that remaining costs to repair the historic McLennan County Courthouse come from our ranks. It’s time that county leaders judge who among them has real leadership qualities, then forge a resourceful, aggressive plan to raise funds locally rather than counting on further state and federal sources to do the job.

This is a county building, and any repairs and renovations are ultimately county responsibilities. It’s a local obligation. Why always look to the state and federal governments?

We say this not in a fit of tight-fisted, Scrooge-like conservatism but a genuine spirit of optimism and faith in the very wherewithal of our community, even amid the most recent news that courthouse dome repairs may cost $1.1 million, on top of the whopping $715,000 roofing job already approved.

Enough of looking for handouts elsewhere, we say. The McLennan County Courthouse is a regional treasure of architecture, culture and history, reflecting the best and worst of our past and thus worth preserving for the lessons it offers and the hopes that its construction symbolized. Its aging and increasingly creaky dome, supposedly modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, is especially striking amid our unique cityscape.

But where is the rallying cry to forge local solutions to a local problem? Is this courthouse’s renovation worth it? Cannot county commissioners and other county leaders scrutinize their budgets further, consider further funding solutions, even mount a public crusade to raise the money and awareness and even some appreciation?

Leadership? How about 54th District Judge Matt Johnson, who is behind a push to increase awareness of the McLennan County Courthouse’s rich past, and County Judge Jim Lewis, who knows every crevice of the courthouse (except, perhaps, those on the roof, which seems to have gone uninspected or even considered for years).

Some recall when Hill County Courthouse burned down and Willie Nelson, in a characteristically noble gesture, did two concerts to help raise funds to rebuild the courthouse. In doing so, he and others showed pride in their community that few of us have a chance to display these days.

Which begs the question: Has anyone seen Pat Green lately?