The Legion Bar & Grill is a recent addition to the Bisbee bar scene, and promises so much more than a regular watering hole. Located in a formerly dark corner of Subway St., the building is full of interesting history that had been lost for decades.
Mike Ablin, the proprietor, has a background in historic preservation and contracting as well as bars and restaurants. For almost three years, he came down to Bisbee from Tucson on weekends to renovate the property. That hard work has paid off, as the “Bar” successfully opened in June, with the promise of the “& Grill” coming soon.
“It Just Felt Right”
Ablin fell in love with Bisbee right away, as soon as he got through the tunnel. He remembers visiting for the first time in 2020 with his mother, who had been coming here for the last 30 years. “It was like the first kiss, the first girl you ever fell in love with. It was just ‘wow,’” he recalled.
As they were walking around, they came across the building, which was up for sale by the American Legion. This corner of Bisbee, along Subway St, had been almost completely abandoned for decades. Upon closer inspection, Ablin felt the building still had some life. “It had good bones,” Ablin said, “so I struck a deal with them.” That deal took 9 months to close, but in the end he was the new owner of this historic building, which hadn’t been operating as a Legion since the 1980s.
From Another Era
The red brick building was built at the beginning of the last century by the Frankenburg Brothers as an annex to the Fair Store, a men’s clothing shop located on Main St.; indeed the top floor connects to the Fair (now home to the Bisbee Restoration Museum) via a sky bridge.
It was commissioned by architect Henry Trost, a notable architect originally based in Chicago, but who moved to Arizona. Trost was known for his enormous, ornate gates, as well as being the designer of many buildings along Main St including The Fair Store, Miner’s and Merchant’s, the Costello Building (currently Cafe Roka) and the Hanniger Johnson Building, former home to Woolworth’s. Many of his buildings tend to have embellishments that make them stand out.
A lot of the building’s history is a mystery; during the 1930s and 40s it was rumored to have hosted burlesque shows. Ablin believes it became a Legion sometime in the 1960s, and eventually closed in the 1980s. It had been vacant ever since.
The Legion Years
During its heyday as a Legion, it was a centerpiece of the community. The upstairs area was home to many weddings, dances, and other events. “There are probably a dozen or so families that have asked if they can take a peek up upstairs. They tell me their grandparents used to hang out here,” he said.
Slowly, membership began to dwindle and the building fell into disrepair. It finally closed its doors sometime in the eighties. During its decline, Ablin says he heard there were a lot of “shennanigans” going on. “Slot machines, cigarette machines, you name it,” he says.
In fact, one of the drinks on the menu, called “Tell Jesse Vasquez It’s Time To Go Home” was inspired by an alleged secret phrase that would allow you into the club.
The Restoration
Ablin knew he had his work cut out for him, as the building was full of garbage and debris going back 40 years or more. Still living in Tucson, he would come down on weekends to chip away at the project.
There were many surprises that awaited him, including the fact that the building had a basement. He had discovered a manhole out on the patio, only to open it and find it filled with dirt and a layer of concrete. However, when he took a jackhammer to the concrete, it fell through and landed on the ground below. “What had happened over the years is the silt filled it up because the building was built halfway into the mountain.”
They eventually removed all the silt with 5 gallon buckets, discovering a giant furnace. The furnace couldn’t be moved but now its doors have been repurposed as a high-end liquor cabinet behind the bars. “I have other cool pieces like that being refurbished,” he said.
The Decor
Ablin went for the post-modern look, exposing the bare brick and beams, opening the space and revealing the building’s “good bones.” Everywhere, it is adorned with Legion memorabilia, classic motorcycles (hanging from the ceiling), and twinkling lights.
Most notably, the bar itself has a retractable glass door facade, that allows for a semi-open-air experience many months of the year. That was a design I came up with,” said Mike. “I had a vision of people sitting on a patio, looking up the side of the mountains.” To achieve this, they bought the sliding glass door frames, wrapped them with sheet metal and sprayed them with water and vinegar to get them to rust.
The Future
The Legion Bar & Grill is currently only open Friday and Saturday but promises to expand the hours once the kitchen is open. “We’re doing traditional Texas barbecue. My chef has roots back to Lockhart, Texas and so we’re serving pulled pork brisket, jalapeño sausage, and ribs. Then we’ll have some sides. We have some chicharones, and some Mexican street corn. All this will be served on a metal sheet with the brown butcher paper, and you can have it until we run out,” he said.
The legendary upstairs area will be open again to hosting weddings, dances, and whatever the community wants or needs. “We would love to do a high school dance or a Boys and Girls Club dance, any of those types of things.”
The bar also will add more live music, predominantly old-school, rhythm and blues, rock, and country. While his plans are to open the kitchen within the next couple of months, he knows not to set anything in stone. “You’ll smell it coming through the tunnel, I guarantee you,” he said.
Bisbee architect Ben Lepley of Tectonicus LLC led the adaptive-reuse of the building. Major structural and code updates, and a top-of line commercial kitchen.
