The Center City Association was founded by a group of concerned citizens and business owners in June of 1998. Those founding members are:

• D. Sue Allen
• Sam Beloff
• Mike Calabrese
• John Detrick
• Katherine Eckstrand
• Rob Kearns
• Dr. William Kinnison
• Jim Lagos
• Bob McGregor
• Mike Morris
• Rick Posey
• Bill Schwartz
• Fred Snow

The founding Board members of the Center City Association had the vision of the Center City being the Center for Commerce, Culture, and Community - the same vision that exists today. The founding members organized partly out of nostalgia - wanting to see the downtown the way it was, partly out of pride - restoring the downtown to its original state and promote pride in the community, and partly out of economic necessity - the entire community had been affected by the decline of the downtown.

The Center City Association was designated as an official Neighborhood Association in January of 1999 and adopted "Center City Association" as the official name of the organization. The organization was incorporated as a non-profit on October 26, 2000.

The founding Board members held regular meetings to discuss the future of the downtown. Four committees were formed and volunteers were recruited to the committees. The Board then raised funds, and hired an executive director in July of 2001, and an executive assistant in October of that year.

The Center City Association currently has a Thirteen-member Board of Directors, 4 standing committees with over 50 volunteers, and 2 full-time staff members.

Download a Historical Timeline of the history of the Center City Association.