Some merchants saw red when access to their business was cut off without notice.
Others closed their doors for the day or the week.
Wendell Graham, a member and former president of the Artists Guild of Anna Maria Island, which operates the Guild Gallery in the Island Shopping Center at 5414 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, told The Islander Sept. 23 that construction on the city center project was having a negative impact on the gallery.
The project involves adding roadway markings, bicycle lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, street lighting and landscaping to a stretch of roadway from the intersection of Gulf and Marina drives to the 5600 block of Marina Drive.
The city hired Sarasota-based C-Squared CGC Inc. to complete the project for $2,753,784.55.
However, city commissioners also approved two additions, expanding the scope of work, including:
- $154,649.30 in July to replace infiltration drenches and a failing stormwater drainage pipe along Gulf Drive;
- $93,027 in August to replace a failing stormwater line under the drive that runs through the Island Shopping Center between Holmes Boulevard and Marina Drive.
However, when C-Squared began the project Sept. 19 and work included the shopping center pipeline, some businesses in the plaza were taken by surprise.
Small Town Creamery, 5404 Marina Drive, posted on Facebook Sept. 21 that the business was closing for the day due to construction, which “has closed off our parking lot and access to our store.”
The business reopened the next day.
Graham said the Guild Gallery remained open but construction prevented or discouraged many people from entering. She said other businesses in the plaza were similarly impacted.
“There’s no place to even park their car, they can’t walk across this huge dirt trench, they have to walk all the way around to the other side of the building,” Graham said.
“Can you imagine? You’re an out-of-towner and you want to go explore shops. Are you going to cross over an active construction site and across two lanes of a main road to a shop where you can only see bulldozers outside?” she added.
Graham said only three people entered the gallery while she supervised one morning.
City engineer Sage Kamiya told The Islander Sept. 23 that the bulk of the work impacting the shopping center, such as replacing the drainage line, was finished. He said restorative work would be completed the week beginning Sept. 26.
“By the end of the week, it should be, essentially, back to the way it was,” Kamiya said. “It was work that had been needed for some time.”
He voiced empathy for impacted business owners but insisted the city is making every effort to minimize the impact.
Kamiya said C-Squared’s quick work in the Island Shopping Center could have taken up to twice as long to complete if they required additional access and parking or waited until the drainage pipe failed.
“They were able to get in and get out as quick as they could,” Kamiya said. “I thought we did pretty good. … This way, we were able to get in ahead of time before it became worse and take care of it long term.”
Otherwise, Kamiya said construction on the main project is proceeding smoothly but may require changes if the island is hit hard by Hurricane Ian.
In the meantime, Graham called on the Manatee County Tourist Development Council to support impacted businesses, as well as the community and its visitors to patronize local businesses during the construction.
“It would just give a little bit of relief to the business owners to say, ‘Somebody’s thinking of us,’” Graham said. “We know it’s active construction but all of these shops are open.”
“Come visit us. Make that extra effort to find out what’s inside.”