ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Annapolis Marine Art Gallery is closing its doors by the end of the year after nearly 50 years in business, with its co-owner pointing to the ongoing City Dock construction project as the driving force behind the decision.
A sign outside the gallery reads "Construction 1, Us 0."
"The space, the place we've called home for 48 years, is no longer gonna be our home," co-owner Samantha Wilkerson said.
The closure comes several months after the City Dock project expanded onto Dock Street. In January, Wilkerson described the early financial toll the construction was taking on businesses in the area.
"Businesses along Dock Street lost between 20 to 50 percent of our revenue," Wilkerson said.
Months later, she says conditions have only worsened.
"We've lost more revenue. The days are a lot slower. We have a lot less foot traffic this way, as do other stores around us. We've been watching other stores closed down one by one around us," Wilkerson said.
Business owners have continued pressing the city for answers.
"How do you put businesses behind fencing and expect them to continue on?" Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson says promises made to business owners in 2025 have not been fulfilled, and she is frustrated by what she describes as a lack of support and accountability from the city.
"It's disappointing that it is the city causing this and that it's on them to help and they're not helping, and then the responses we're getting, I'm, you know, being told it's for the greater good for the flooding out there. It is not an either-or thing; you can have thriving small businesses and take care of the flooding out there, but there was no care. We were not a priority," Wilkerson said.
She also says the construction, which is intended to address Annapolis's flooding problem, has actually made flooding worse in some cases.
"When there's heavy rainfall, something that didn't cause flooding before is now causing flooding because they have removed pumps. They've plugged a storm drain, and it just makes no sense, and it feels like we're being pushed out," Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson says the support the city has provided to affected businesses has been minimal.
"Sometimes the signage is falling down the street; you can see where it's taped in place, not looking too good, and then they do online posts about us, and that's really all that we are getting from the city," Wilkerson said.
She says the lack of transparency has been the most disappointing aspect of the ordeal, including a change to the construction timeline that she learned about through a public online post rather than directly from the city.
"They changed the timeline of the whole construction project to May 2028, and I had to find that out online through Access Annapolis just like everyone else, so it's been disappointing," Wilkerson said.
The gallery will continue selling art online and is encouraging customers to keep supporting the business after the storefront closes.
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