A Monumental Plan

Re-imagining the 'grand and ordinary' Washington landscape

EVER SINCE it was founded in 1791, Washington has had to reckon with the intersection of its dual roles as host to a nation and home to a city. Pierre L'Enfant's design of the federal city embraced that challenge. Today, it lies at the heart of a bold new vision for Washington's future.

Last week, federal planners unveiled the results of an effort to articulate a vision for the downtown and its "monumental core." Authors of the National Capital Framework Plan re-imagine four areas of downtown as extensions of the Mall, transformed from drab federal work enclaves to exciting urban space. The emphasis is on eliminating barriers so that undervalued assets such as the waterfront, parkland or historic public buildings become more accessible and are integrated into the life of the city. Just as L'Enfant drew a city that "mixed big and little, grand and ordinary, public and private," so does the plan propose unifying Washington's monumental core with the local city.

The plan, the result of two years of work by the National Capital Planning Commission and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, is not bashful in sketching what it feels needs to be done to make Washington a more inviting, open and connected place. It would get rid of the hideous FBI building and revitalize the Old Post Office to strengthen Pennsylvania Avenue's role as America's "Main Street." The massive Forrestal building, which obstructs the Smithsonian Castle, would give way to better views. Roads that isolate the Kennedy Center would be decked over. Particularly exciting is its vision of Washington as a walkable city with integrated transportation systems -- including water taxis, more Metro stops and expansion of the D.C. Circulator system -- to serve visitors, workers and residents.

Some of the ideas, such as ending the isolation of the Kennedy Center, are not new but have languished for lack of money, political will and leadership. That's an indictment of past bad planning and benign neglect. By its own definition, the plan is neither a prescriptive master plan nor an implementation program. Extraordinary amounts of money would be needed to accomplish just a fraction of its goals. But its ideas should guide the decisions -- both big and small -- of local and federal officials. Too much of Washington has been working at cross-purposes, so it is encouraging to see local and federal, public and private, come together in this and other efforts to improve America's capital and its cherished Mall. Attention generated by this plan, now subject to public review, should spur Congress to act on a pending $100 million appropriation to aid in that improvement effort.