Nicquel Terry

@NTerryAPP

Asbury Park has lost yet another major event.

The popular Comicon convention announced Monday that it will be moving to the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus after three years in Asbury Park.

Organizers say they had nowhere to go in the city after the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel doubled their rate and told them the hotel was in the “wedding business and didn’t want any more conventions.”

Comicon, which launched at Asbury Lanes in 2012, has expanded every year, promoting comics, authors and dozens of exhibitors. About 7,600 people attended the convention in April, organizers say. In 2013, it was held at Convention Hall.

Founders Cliff Galbraith and Robert Bruce started the festival with the idea that it would focus mainly on comics, as opposed to big television celebrities and professional wrestlers that appear at other comic book festivals.

Galbraith said he never wanted to leave Asbury Park but the Berkeley Hotel was adding fees and offered a contract for 2015 that was twice the amount he paid this year.

“Our intention was to stay in Asbury Park forever, that’s why it’s branded ‘Asbury Park Comicon,’ ” said Galbraith, of Red Bank. “But we did not have a good experience with the hotel.”

Hotel general manager Cem Erenler said he was not aware that costs were an issue for the Comicon organizers. He said he believed Comicon left because the hotel could not accommodate the dates event organizers requested.

“We would love to have Comicon here again because I think our relationship helps each other,” Erenler said.

Comicon moved to the Berkeley this year because Galbraith was uncertain whether Convention Hall would be available for the event.

Convention Hall went several months without booking events last year after a dispute with waterfront developer Madison Marquette and the city over installing state-mandated sprinklers in the venue. City officials say the sprinklers are now being installed but negotiations are ongoing.

Comicon follows behind two other major events that have left as a result of conflicts with Convention Hall and the Berkeley Hotel.

The Garden State Festival moved from Convention Hall to Atlantic City this spring.

The Sand Blast weekend will move to Atlantic City as well this July. Organizers posted on the Sand Blast Facebook page that it could not “secure suitable hotel arrangements and venues” after 12 years in Asbury Park. The event, which appeals to the gay and lesbian community, was held at the Berkeley.

Galbraith said he is open to returning to Asbury Park in 2016 if the Berkeley Hotel makes a reasonable offer or Convention Hall is available. However, he said he remains skeptical about exhibitors and attendees staying at the Berkeley.

Galbraith said the city needs a representative to communicate with venues and festival promoters to prevent them from leaving Asbury Park.

Nicquel Terry: 732-643-4023; nterry@app.com