August 15, 2023

Community park, aquatics center, planned for former landfill site in Bellevue

Images via city of Bellevue [enlarge]

The updated master plan calls for a park with diverse amenities that include sports courts, a children’s playground and a new aquatics building.

The city of Bellevue is planning to transform a former private airfield and municipal landfill site into a new amenity-rich community park. The park would be located on three parcels and 27.5 acres of currently undeveloped land at 2997 160th Ave. S.E. in the Eastgate neighborhood of the city.

The city purchased the site, which was home to the Bellevue Airfield until 1983 and used as municipal landfill from 1951 to 1964, in 2002 with the intent of developing the relatively flat land into an active recreational use community park. The site is accessed by vehicles from the south, just off I-90, and is surrounded by residential neighbors to the north and west and office parks to the east, south and west.

A master plan for the proposed park, designed by the Portico Group, was adopted by the Bellevue City Council in 2012 and has already undergone SEPA review. However, the city now intends to adopt an updated master plan which calls for the development of more and upgraded amenities, including a brand-new aquatics center building.

[enlarge]

Aerial view of the project site at 2997 160th Ave. S.E.

In April, the council voted unanimously in support of the modified park master plan and directed parks and community services staff to advance the new plan to the environmental study phase. The updated plan was submitted for SEPA review Aug. 3.

According to the city's website, environmental review is anticipated to take approximately a year to complete, at which time the council would be asked to officially adopt the updated master plan. The new master plan, which the city has designed in collaboration with an architecture and engineering team led by Walker | Macy, includes a parking area, flexible fields, a children's playground, basketball and pickleball courts, a splash pad, picnic area, amphitheater, public restrooms, and the aforementioned aquatics center. According to the city's website, the site is currently the only undeveloped city-owned parcel large enough to accommodate a new aquatics facility.

If the updated plan is adopted by the council it will guide the long-term phased development of the park. The city is yet to share a projected groundbreaking or completion date for the new community greenspace which would be named Bellevue Airfield Park in honor of the site's history.