VALPARAISO | Welcome to Tuesday night at the movies in Valparaiso.

In what the city hopes will be a regular summer event next year, possibly in its new downtown park, the Valparaiso Community Festivals and Events office is sponsoring two movie nights to give folks another reason to visit the downtown with their family and friends.

The city's Board of Public Works and Safety voted Thursday to approve the closing of Washington Street between Lincolnway and Indiana Street from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. on July 22 for the showing of the first Indiana Jones movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and Aug. 12 for "Night at the Museum."

VCFE Executive Director Tina St. Aubin said Sound Cool Live Audio, of Highland, was hired to set up a 37-foot portable movie screen with sound system for the show.

"We are trying it for two nights, and, if it's a success, we hope to do more next year," St. Aubin said. "We hope the new park will be the venue for it. Picking the right movies is the key. I'm asking my 8-year-old son for advice on movies."

She credited Mayor Jon Costas with coming up with the idea for the movie night, but Costas said he borrowed the idea from Chesterton.

"It's an event that seems popular with families," Costas said. "The ambiance of being outside with other people is what it is all about."

The screen will be set up in the parking lot of the Fifth Third Bank, and the street is being closed off to facilitate the set up and to make it easier for people to come and go without having to worry about traffic. The movie won't start until dusk.

If the event proves popular enough, Costas said the new downtown park the city plans to build next year at Lafayette Street and Indiana Avenue could include a built-in screen and sound system.