ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Business owners along Dock Street say ongoing construction for the City Dock project is devastating their revenue, with some reporting losses of up to 50% since work began last April.
The Annapolis Marine Art Gallery and Storm Bro's Ice Cream are among the businesses struggling as the project enters the second half of its first phase, which will eliminate additional parking spaces between Craig and Randall streets.
Annapolis business owners fear City Dock construction project will force them to close
"When they first put up the fencing for the first phase of construction, businesses along dock street lost between 20 to 50 percent of our revenue," said Samantha Wilkerson, co-owner of Annapolis Marina Art Gallery.
The gallery, which first opened in 1978, moved to its Dock Street location in 2022 specifically for its proximity to marine-themed attractions.
"It's frustrating for us because when families and visitors come down they can't see the water and that's one of the big attractions," Sveinn Storm said.
The City Dock project serves two purposes: flood mitigation and enhancing public access to the water. However, the construction phase is currently restricting that very access the project aims to improve.
With completion not expected until 2028, business owners worry they won't survive at their current revenue levels.
Sveinn Storm of Storm Bro's Ice Cream said the main issue is poor communication from city officials.
"They met with us for the last three years and we were able to bring all of our concerns then, now they are ignoring them. It's as if every promise that has been made to us has been broken," Storm said.
Both businesses indicated they may not survive through the year due to the ongoing uncertainty.
"I may for the first time ever, other than the flooding down here close my business," Storm said.
Wilkerson echoed similar concerns about the project's impact.
"We really have been struggling with it and I think some of the biggest struggles is just the unfairness and the lack of communication that we are receiving from the city," Wilkerson said.
The mayor's office responded to parking concerns in a statement:
"The city added 165 parking spaces to the Mills Hillman Garage, about a five minute walk away up Main Street to offset the parking loss." said Mitchelle Stephenson, Public Information Officer.
The city is also planning an advertising campaign to help with visibility for the businesses as construction continues.
The second half of phase one is set to start Monday, January 19.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
