The Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium would be transformed from a concrete slab surrounded by parking lots into a parklike area with hundreds of trees and a walking trail under a landscaping plan released yesterday by Naval Academy, city and state officials.

"It's going to take an area that's probably not as attractive as it should be and make it attractive," said Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton, superintendent of the Naval Academy.

The improvements will be the latest stage in a $40 million overhaul of the 43-year-old stadium, which is about a mile from downtown and is home to Navy's football team.

Officials said the stadium grounds will be encircled by 500 trees, retention ponds to ease storm water runoff problems, 25,000 square feet of shrubbery, and a 10-foot-wide walking path.

Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said the stadium will become a gateway to the city.

The price tag: nearly $1.2 million.

The state approved federal funds to cover 50 percent of the cost. The Naval Academy will pay 30 percent, and the city will pay 20 percent.

On top of that, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. will contribute $30,000 and 500 trees.

The landscaping should be completed before next football season, officials said. It would line the roads that surround the grounds of the 35,000-seat stadium: Cedar Park Road, Farragut Road, Taylor Avenue and Rowe Boulevard.

There was talk yesterday about the gravel parking lot on the stadium's west side becoming a grassy area big enough for six soccer fields to be used when the stadium is not.

"That would be an opportunity to open up some green space," said Chet Gladchuk, athletic director of the Naval Academy Athletic Association.

At yesterday's news conference announcing the plan, the word of the day was "partnership." Each group praised the other and their ability to work together.

"We haven't worked this closely together for a long time - if ever," Moyer said of the city and the academy.

The only group not invited to the news conference were the residents who live around the stadium. Their relationship with the academy has been improving, but is not completely harmonious.

Residents met last night with Naval Academy officials.

"I have absolutely great hope and excitement for what this thing is going to look like when it's finished," said Debbie McKerrow, vice president of the Admiral Heights Improvement Association, which represents nearby residents. "We have to be positive and work together, but that doesn't mean there may not still be sticking points."

"It looks like this has a possibility of a being an asset to the community," stadium neighbor Dan Masterson said. "I'm just hoping it will stay on course."

Members of the Weems Creek Conservancy have also been critics of the stadium renovation. They had complained that the landscaping didn't take into account runoff that has polluted College and Weems creeks with car liquids, stadium trash and sediment.

By the time the plans were unveiled yesterday, they included at least four retention ponds to treat at least 85 percent of the storm water before it reaches the creeks, said Jim Martin of the conservancy.

"The community suffered it," Martin said. "They put up with it. Now we're going to see something beautiful."

The trees and 1.25-mile walkway around the perimeter are intended to form a buffer between the stadium and the neighborhood.

Said Alderwoman Sheila M. Tolliver: "It certainly is better than what we have now."