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After three summers in business, the bar and restaurant Aqua in Convention Hall is shutting its doors for good.

Owners Andrew Martin and Joe Gastelu are shuttering the eatery due to the difficulty of running a seasonal business, Martin said.

“The restaurant was great and we loved the bar,” Martin said. “It was just very difficult to operate a seasonal restaurant.”

Also, Gastelu is setting his sights on opening a restaurant in Hoboken, Martin said. Martin will now focus on his law practice.

“We did what we set out to do,” Martin said. “We started out to be successful and I feel we were, but we made a fiscal decision to move on … It wasn’t hemorrhaging money. It was a lot of work for little reward.”

Martin feels Aqua attracted people to the once-empty Sunset Avenue beach, just north of Convention Hall. The bar occupied the northern end of the outside of Convention Hall, with its restaurant taking up a storefront inside the Arcade.

“It was a great space, it had a great view and we were successful,” Martin said. “It was a great vibe for everyone. Also what made it successful were the people who worked at Aqua. We had one of the best families on the boardwalk.”

Aqua was for its owners “a great place to see friends and people we knew in Asbury Park,” Martin said. “Joe and I both feel like we got to participate in a lot of people’s celebration and that was probably the most rewarding thing.”

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