Timmerman Theater
5441 8th Street,
Fort Dix,
NJ
08641
5441 8th Street,
Fort Dix,
NJ
08641
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Unlike most theaters on military posts the Timmerman Theater was a 14,000 square foot modern brick structure the likes of which any American town would have been proud. There was even a small pylon on the front lawn. The venue was named for 1st Lt. Karl Timmerman, a World War II hero.
The theater closed in 1988 when there was a base realignment which also involved McGuire Air Force Base and Lakehurst. Active Army training at Ft. Dix ceased in 2005.
In December of 2003 it was announced that the facility be doubled in size at a cost of $3.7 million to become the Timmerman Conference Center.
Contributed by
robert boehm
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Uploaded a current picture of the interior. When I was there in the 1960s the walls were a tan/beige. Also uploaded an exterior photo showing most of the theater. The box office was on the left.
From the style of the theater I believe it was erected in the 1950s. It was not new when I was there in the early 1960s. At that time there were two other post theaters, Numbers 2 and 3. They were your typical military base type structures. Timmerman was sometimes referred to as Theater 1.
I have some specific remembrances of the theater:
Saw Sweet Bird of Youth opening night. Long line. Not everyone got in.
Although one could wear civvies, there was a dress code. I was turned away one night because I was wearing a sweater with no observable shirt underneath. A buddy loaned a fresh one he had in his car.
They could contact you in an emergency by projecting a message to the left of the proscenium.
Can’t remember if there was a concession stand or whether admission was 50 cents or a dollar. I think the latter.
Army buddy of mine said there was a concession stand. He thought admission was a buck.
I remember the pylon once advertised a movie featuring Sabina Sesselmann. Who you ask? Didn’t see the movie. Just looked her up on Wikipedia. She was a German actress who also appeared in the British film Information Received. That must be the one I saw advertised since it was a 1961 release.
By means of contrast uploaded a picture of a generic War Department theater. When I was at Ft. Dix in the early 1960s there were also two operating in addition to the Timmerman. A former one was being used for other activities.
Uploaded a photo when the auditorium sported the original color scheme from the Army days.
I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to get an actual seating count but it is apparent from the comparison of the interior images as a Post theater and as a convention center auditorium that everything is the same except the color scheme. I don’t really remember much about the interiors of the old “military style” theaters (an example of which is in the photos section) except that at, what we called, Theater 2 the wainscoting in the men’s room was identical to the Formica on my kitchen table at home.
At the Joint Base theater which now services McGuire AFB- Dix – Lakehurst (on the McGuire property) the Adult admission is $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for children and more for 3D. Theater is obviously closed because of the pandemic.