Boeing Recycles Historic Factory, but a Grim Legacy Remains

Boeing Plant 2, built in 1936 on the south end of downtown Seattle, near the Duwamish Waterway, stood for nearly eight decades as a hub for aircraft production. The facility played a significant role in World War II, producing over 7,000 B-17 Flying Fortresses and even the first Boeing 737s.

The plant's production run spanned multiple decades, with the facility also being used for other Boeing work during the 1970s and '80s. By the 1990s and 2000s, it had become a restoration facility for historic aircraft. All remaining aircraft were moved out of the building in September 2010, marking the end of an era.

A remarkable aspect of the plant's demolition is that nearly 100,000 tons of concrete from the structure was reused as backfill on-site. This effort not only reduced landfill waste but also minimized the need for freshly quarried aggregate and the associated fuel and emissions costs.