A Vision of Washington With Unfettered Views

The plan calls for a series of bridges and a boardwalk to improve access from the city to East Potomac Park. (2005 Photo By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)
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"We commend the National Planning Commission for its far reaching vision for Washington D.C., and are pleased to have participated in the process," Claudette Donlon, the Kennedy Center's executive vice president, said in an e-mailed statement. "We look forward to the day when their vision can be implemented."

Harriet Tregoning, director of the District's Office of Planning, said, "I think it's a great plan, just a very thoughtful, far-reaching plan. I think the challenge is going to be which one of these pieces ends up moving first."

John E. "Chip" Akridge, chairman of the Trust for the National Mall, said he had not had a chance to study the plan in detail but added, "Generally my interest is more in fixing what's there now." The trust raises private money for maintenance and improvements to the Mall.

The four areas studied for the plan were the Northwest Rectangle, roughly from the Kennedy Center to 17th Street; the downtown Federal Triangle; the Southwest Federal Center, south of the Mall; and East Potomac Park, between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel.

The plan emphasizes the idea of connecting the four sections to the Mall and to each other, and eliminating barriers.

It suggests, for example, decking over the odd "spaghetti bowl" highways, such as the Potomac Freeway, which is east of the Kennedy Center and cuts off the arts complex from the city.

The plan criticizes much of the area's post-World War II highway and building construction: "Urban renewal, hailed as cutting edge by many at the time, reflected Modernist design principles that have proven to undermine vibrant urban life."

It points in particular to the vast bleak government office structures such as the FBI building, built on Pennsylvania Avenue in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the Energy Department's James V. Forrestal building, at 10th Street and Independence Avenue SW.

The FBI building's "unornamented International Style architecture exacerbates a fortress-like presence," the plan says. "If in the long term the FBI is able to better fulfill its mission . . . elsewhere in the District, redevelopment of the site would significantly contribute to the rejuvenation of Pennsylvania Avenue."

Of the Forrestal building, which spans 10th Street at Independence, the plan notes that it is part of the 40-year-old Southwest federal complex, which is "dominated by superblock buildings and lacks street life, retail activity and green space."

The plan suggests removing the section of the Forrestal building straddling the street to reestablish a north-south connection between the Mall and the waterfront.

"One of the things that we're . . . trying to do is improve these very important federal areas around the Mall in a way that takes some of the vibrancy of the city, and capture that into these quadrants," said Acosta, of the planning commission. "These areas today are 9-to-5 places."

Thomas Luebke, secretary of the arts commission, said each of the four sectors has elements of beauty, culture or art: "It's just a question of connecting the dots."

In the Northwest Rectangle, the plan suggests building staircases to the riverfront from the Kennedy Center's west terrace.

In the Federal Triangle area, which the plan describes as "a monotonous public realm," the document suggests a "federal walk" that would direct visitors on a tour of the sculpture and architecture. The triangle contains one of the largest collections of 20th-century sculpture in the country, the plan says.

In the Southwest rectangle, the plan imagines 10th Street as a broad, tree-lined promenade linking the Mall and water, with a new museum and other buildings at the southern overlook and a grand staircase down to the Washington Channel waterfront.

In East Potomac Park, the plan calls for a Metro stop near the Jefferson Memorial, where the Yellow Line passes, a canal to improve boat navigation from the channel to the river, and a series of bridges and a boardwalk to improve access from the city to the park.

"When you think about the nation's capital, you think of the Mall," said Miller, of the planning commission. "We want people . . . when they think of the capital of the United States of America to think of the city."