Steering the Future of Walter Reed

Fenty said neighbors want a plan that will preserve open space that connects with nearby Rock Creek Park, single-family housing and neighborhood retail shops along Georgia Avenue.

Williams said he wants the plan completed by the end of 2006, which is also the end of his term as mayor. By starting the planning process now, Williams said, he hopes to avoid the problems other cities have run into while converting military bases.

He studied the experience of San Francisco when it was forced to close several facilities in the 1990s.

The mayor said the closure and redevelopment of San Francisco's Presidio Army base is an example of how to do it right. The base, which has stunning vistas overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, has been converted into a national recreation center with residential neighborhoods and office space.

He cited the conversion of San Francisco's Treasure Island Naval Station, an effort that has been mired in bureaucratic inertia for years, as the way to do it wrong.

"We've got a great example of how it should be done and a not-so-great example,'' Williams said. "We want to take the better example.''

Staff writer Debbi Wilgoren contributed to this report.