For many years, the American Legion Post #16 in Bisbee waited for the right space to call their new home after they shut their doors on their original Subway Street location. Over the past three years, they have transformed a former pizza restaurant into a canteen and meeting place for the members as well as the community.

The beautiful old building, now the Legion Bar & Grill, needed a lot of repairs and restoration that the organization could no longer afford with Bisbee’s dwindling population post-mining. “When you start losing people,” said David Smith, Post 16 finance officer, “you start losing the backing (money) as well.”

The members-only group was previously using the VFW Partyspace to meet until about four years ago when they bought the building at 1422 Highway 92, which they now call their home. The opportunity to buy a restaurant with an already existing commercial kitchen was a key factor in their decision to buy it…..read full story (online subscribers only)