35 Years of Strength
On October 19, 1991, a crisp fall morning in the high desert, 200 runners diligently stretched and hydrated for the very first Bisbee 1000: The Great Stair Climb.
Meanwhile, the all-volunteer Board of Directors of the new nonprofit Save Our Stairs (incorporated in 1990, Bisbee Vogue, Inc. since 2013) were excited to introduce the crowd to the Europeanesque quality of Bisbee and her stairs with a fun, recreational, friendly competition.
The First Bisbee 1000: The Great Stair Climb
2017 Bisbee 1000: The Great Stair Climb
The event was an instant hit, and within 20 years, two hundred runners and a few thousand dollars raised became two thousand runners and tens of thousands of funds!
Every year.
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Three and half decades later, we reflect on the kaleidoscopic range of contributions, including more than $11M in direct investments as well as economic development dollars, that Bisbee Vogue, Inc. has made to help shape our beloved town and county into the captivating, enriching place that's not only a fun place to visit, but an extra-ordinary place to live.
1990 - 2005
Stair Improvement
In the beginning, Bisbee Vogue, Inc. partnered directly with the City of Bisbee to clean, restore and install handrails on the nine sets of stairs (1034 steps) used for the Bisbee 1000: the Great Stair Climb, some of which had not seen a trowel since FDR's Works Progress Administration in the '30s!
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Part of this enormous effort included yearly clearing of debris around the course roadways and stairs (4.5 miles) with probationers court-ordered by the Superior Court to community work service.
$31,000
169,000 lbs of debris
2006 - 2023
Community Investments
As the event grew, local and county sponsors, along with generous individual donors, rallied enthusiastically behind its mission.
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Building on this strong foundation of support for recreational health and wellness, the BVI Board introduced the concept of Working Partners. These local collaborators, though not always perfectly aligned in mission, shared complementary goals of building and strengthening the community.
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Some of these Working Partners included the City of Bisbee, Cochise College, Bisbee High School, Lowell Project, St. Patrick Parish, Bisbee Coalition for the Homeless, Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum, Step Up Bisbee, & so many more.
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Read the complete itemized list here.
$662,677
Bisbee 1000 Economic Impact Report
No matter how long you've lived here, you know what happens in Old Bisbee every third weekend in October.
And while we can calculate how much the event raises every year, we couldn't help but wonder about the actual dollar value impact of the event for the City and local businesses.
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In 2013, the BVI board commissioned an Economic Impact Report, and the findings were illuminating. Turns out that the legacy event pumps nearly $600,000 into the local economy every year.
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(You can read the full report here. For extra fun, adjust those numbers for inflation!)
$587,720
2015 - 2019
Tattooed Walls of Bisbee
In classic Bisbee fashion, the Tattooed Walls effort was both practical and artistic — a creative solution to an emerging predicament.
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The event had become so popular that visitors were returning year round to train and explore the course. What better way to mark the official route than with art?
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Enter Judy Perry, the village painter whose original artwork graces many private homes around Bisbee. With permission from the City of Bisbee, some private residents and a contract from BVI, Perry set out to "tattoo" the entrances to each of the nine staircases of the Bisbee 1000: The Great Stair Climb course.
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These vibrant murals endure to this day, a colorful tribute to the town's unique charm and spirit.
2020 - 2021
Bisbee Outdoor Recreation Center
In Partnership with the City of Bisbee and KE&G Construction
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was a frightening and confusing time, with the isolation of lockdowns and social distancing taking a heavy toll.
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How were we to stay active, connected and safe?
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In response, BVI moved quickly to connect with National Fitness Campaign and worked with the City of Bisbee and KE&G Construction to install a free, world-class outdoor gym at Higgins Hill Park.
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It not only offered residents the opportunity to get outside, get together and get fit while social distancing, it also allowed us to exert a much-needed sense of control over our lives.
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Today, years after the pandemic, Bisbee's Fitness Court boasts higher than average metrics for a rural installation. According the National Fitness Campaign (using mobile app data), our users have logged 26,800 workout sessions — far exceeding the 20,000 session benchmark for our population size — and burned 6.7M calories compared to the 5M benchmark for similarly sized rural installations.
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To play, download the app today and get free expert training while enjoying Bisbee's perfect year-round weather!
$225,000
Work In Progress
2022 - present
The PlayGrounds @ St. Patrick Parish
In Partnership with St. Patrick Parish
with major support from
Legacy Foundation of Southeast Arizona
As public libraries are centers for lifelong learning, our PlayGrounds are a center for lifelong playing!
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It's a work in progress, but the vision is powerful: Recreation is RE-creation!
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Imagine a 13,000 square-foot, open-air venue ornamented with murals by local artists, outfitted with artificial turf for mini-golf and yoga, plus games and activities such as mega-chess, gaga ball, LEGO, ping pong, archery — and whatever else we can dream up!
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It's for kids, kid-ults, individuals of all backgrounds, and families of all shapes and sizes.
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Stay tuned ...
$75,000
so far ...
2024
City of Bisbee Pool
With Matching Funds from Community Donors
In 2023, Bisbee residents lamented the closing of the beloved City pool for an entire year as it underwent much-needed renovations and upgrades to the deck and filtration system.
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However, the surrounding dirt remained an eyesore and an uncomfortable feature of the site.​
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As BVI was working on the nearby PlayGrounds at St. Patrick Parish and had recently invested in the Bisbee Outdoor Recreation Center (BORC), it just made sense to install some of the same artificial turf used there to improve the perimeter of the pool.
$17,158
2025
Pickleball @ Vista Park
In partnership with Bisbee Unified School District
It's popular, and it's potent!
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Turns out the popular sport with the peculiar name packs a serious punch when it comes to accessibility; health, wellbeing and academic benefits; plus, economic impact!
And it’s not just a fad.
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Pickelball has been crowned the nation’s fastest-growing sport among all age groups for the last four years. American high schools are adopting it in varsity programs. And last year’s National Championship in Mesa, AZ, had a $3.6M impact on their city.
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That's why we're replacing BUSD's upper two tennis courts with six tournament-class pickleball courts!
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Open in June ...
$99,785
