The Center Avenue Neighborhood Association (CANA) was born from a need to preserve the legacy of historic architecture left to Bay City by the lumbermen and ship builders who made their fortunes here.

The Center Avenue Historic District is a National Register listed resource of 948 properties, including 882 contributing buildings and sites dating from 1870 – 1960. It boasts an impressive collection of Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Richardson Romanesque, Tudor Revival, Georgian Revival, Arts & Crafts and Stick styles. Of particular note is the presence of many “Kit homes” designed, built and displayed here by the Aladdin and Lewis & Liberty companies which pioneered the manufacture of kit homes from their base of operations in Bay City.

The Center Avenue Historic District is the gateway to Bay City for those traveling east and west on M-25. It is a source of community pride and one of the community’s most sought after tourist attractions. The Center Avenue Neighborhood Association intends to protect and preserve the historic character of the Center Avenue Historic District by providing education and information to property owners, by encouraging the creation of incentives and safeguards to protect individual structures and the neighborhood, and by providing opportunities to the general public to experience the interiors of some of the District’s most impressive private homes in order to instill a greater appreciation of the importance of historic preservation to the community at large.

The existing Center Avenue Neighborhood Association is the formal iteration of an informal gathering of property owners who have met casually since approximately 2005 with the common interest of preserving and protecting the integrity of the Center Avenue Historic District. Since that time, members have worked with officials from the Bay City Convention & Visitors Bureau, the City of Bay City, Bay County, Michigan and Wenona Questers, and the Michigan Department of Transportation to accomplish a number of activities including securing a National Scenic Byways grant (a 2-mile portion of M-25/Center Avenue was designated a Historic Heritage Route under the National Scenic Byways program in 1997).

In 2009, CANA volunteers were members of a local team which facilitated a total reconstruction of a portion of M-25/Center Avenue along with the acquisition and replacement of street lights to resemble those typically in use during the mid 1800s, the burying of utilities and other activities related to the reconstruction project.

The Center Avenue Neighborhood Association was granted 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS.  It supports property owners through education and advocacy and uses programs and information as tools to educate the community and its visitors about the importance of preserving and protecting historic resources.  It also helps the Historic District Commission to fulfill its mission to stabilize and improve property values, foster civic beauty, strengthen the local economy, and promote the use of historic districts.

The Bay County Historical Society has a virtual tour of 51 properties within the district, using Google earth as the interactive “map” (you will need to download Google earth if you do not have it already). Using the “street view” option (person icon at right), you can travel down Center Avenue as if you were actually at street level and you have 360-degree control:  www.bchsmuseum.org/id47.html.