News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Cars line the street of 2nd Avenue in downtown Alpena on Tuesday afternoon. Buildings in the downtown and the immediate area near it, are now included in the National Register of Historic Places.

ALPENA — Downtown Alpena has been nominated to be classified as a Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places.

The district is roughly the 2003 Downtown Development Authority (DDA) boundaries, which encompasses the historic downtown core district.

The designation is purely honorary and does not restrict what property owners within the district can do. It could however open up funding opportunities to property owners who are seeking some financial assistance to help make improvements to the buildings in the district.

Anne Gentry, DDA executive director, said a public meeting is being held at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the Alpena City Hall where people can learn more about what being included on the national registry means, and about the history of the downtown and buildings in it.

“Alpena already has a few buildings, like the Centennial Building that are already on it, but now the district, from the DDA’s 2003 boundaries, are on it,” Gentry said. “That means our buildings downtown have a nationally significant selection of buildings that date back from the 1800s to the 1960s, which also opens up funding opportunities for historic buildings in the register.”

There are several large buildings within the historic district that do need improvements, Gentry said. She said the new designation could help the owners pay to have work done to renovate them.

“There are funding programs, like federal tax credits and periodically there are grants from the state’s Historic Preservation Office that your building needs to be on the register to even apply for,” she said. “If you are a private building owner, that wasn’t on the list before we did this, now you don’t have to do all the work to do it. Now, if you are in the district, you are automatically included.”

Gentry said the harbor and Bay View Park are included in the new historical district, as well as the waste-water treatment plant.

Gentry said having the downtown on the national register has been a goal of the DDA since the early 2000s. Money became available to do the project from a small portion of grant money received by the Thunder Bay Theatre for renovations.

Gentry said Thursday’s meeting will be very informational and encourages people to attend. She said people will get a chance to learn more about the district, the different buildings, and what this nomination means for the area and what opportunities it opens up.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.