Bellevue Airfield (BVU) was a private
airfield in the
northwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
United States, located in what is now the
Eastgate Neighborhood of
Bellevue, Washington, a suburb east of
Seattle. It was situated east of 156th Avenue SE and north of
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
near
Phantom Lake. The asphalt runway's
elevation was at above
sea level, and ran southwest to northeast (marked 2/20). Part of the airport's land was used as a
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
from 1951 till 1964, and featured a
landfill gas venting system. Closed in 1983, today the area is an
office park.
When the
LDS Seattle Washington Temple
The Seattle Washington Temple (formerly the Seattle Temple) is the 21st constructed and 19th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Located in the city of Bellevue, east of Seattle, it was the first to ...
opened in 1980, the airfield was still in operation and the temple spire included a strobe light.
Sometime after the airport closed, a new heliport was added at the north end of runway named Bellevue Business Park Boeing Company Services Headquarters Heliport with the designation of 71WA. It was reportedly used as a private heliport for the nearby
Boeing Eastgate campus. The heliport was closed and the final visible remnants of the north end of the old runway were removed during construction of the Advanta Office Commons buildings leased by
Microsoft. The disused heliport is still visible and is occasionally used as a
basketball court.
The remaining 27 acres north of the Advanta Office Commons was sold to City of Bellevue from Boeing who plans on developing it into Bellevue Airfield Park. However, design and construction is expected to take some time as renovation of the landfill gas system is required.
Boeing sold the remainder of its Eastgate Office Park in 2021 and is expected to leave the campus entirely by 2023.
The only remnants still visible is the heliport and the red and white lamp posts with two red strobe lights on top situated on the nearby overpasses to the south.
References
External links
History of airfield with photosat the
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields site.
Aerial photo of airfield in 1969at Seattle Times Eastside News
Pictures of the old airstrip and helipadbefore the Advanta Office Commons buildings leased by Microsoft were constructed
Airports in King County, Washington
Defunct airports in Washington (state)
{{Washington-airport-stub