Dover Theatre
Route 37 and Route 166,
Toms River,
NJ
08753
Route 37 and Route 166,
Toms River,
NJ
08753
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Music Makers, Walter Reade Theatres
Functions: Storage
Nearby Theaters
The single screen Dover Theatre was opened April 28, 1967 with Paul Newman in “Hombre”. This was, at one time, THE major movie theatre in Toms River. It was later twinned. When the Seacourt Pavilion Theatre opened in the late-1980’s, the Dover Theatre switched to showing second run movies for $2; later $3 right before they closed for good.
The building was used for storage, however the marquee still stands in front of the building, advertising the other stores in the strip mall. It was demolished in March 2011.
Contributed by
Jim George
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Dover I & II CLOSED ? 1980-? 1998
Owners:
1980-1985 Music Makers Group, Inc., The
1990 Loew’s
1995-1998 Sony Theatre Management Corp
excerpted from http://movie-theatre.org/usa/nj/tomsriver.pdf
Demolished as of this date 3-7-11 to make way for a Super ShopRite supermarket.
Prior to Music Makers Group, this was a Walter Reade Theatre.
The Music Makers circuit acquired the Dover and Community theaters in Toms River from SWK Theatres in 1976, according to a report in Boxoffice of October 18 that year. Music Makers planned to give the 800-seat Dover a complete modernization and redecoration. It would operated as a first run house with a $3.00 admission price, while the larger Community Theatre would become a sub-run house charging $1.50.
Now demolished. I was down there on Friday. The mall building that the theater was in is gone, and the land already being reconfigured for another complex of some sort. The Marquee still stands on County 166, but I don’t know if it will remain.
Mike Rivest’s newspaper clipping from the Asbury Park (NJ) Press indicates that the Dover opened on Friday April 28, 1967 with “Hombre” starring Paul Newman.
According to a July 27, 1979 article in the Asbury Park Press (Page 37) the Dover Theater was the site of the (world) premiere of “The Amityville Horror” (1979) on Thursday July 26, 1979. Much of the movie was filmed in the Toms River area.
May 7, 1967 image credit the Asbury Park Sunday Press, courtesy Randy Rossman. Shows front of the theater after the grand opening.