Westminster debuts its second season of Friday night movies in City Park today with the showing of the Oscar-winning Shrek.

Last year's inaugural run of free outdoor movies was so successful that officials have doubled the number of screenings to eight, said Ron Schroers, the city's supervisor of recreation and activities.

Westminster's movie night was inspired by outdoor screenings in Baltimore's Little Italy. Westminster officials decided to hold movie nights in a grassy city park instead of in a concrete area.

The movies will be shown at 9 p.m. Fridays this month and in August at City Park, off Longwell Avenue.

No movies will be shown next month because of the city's Month of Sunday concerts, Schroers said.

Other movies scheduled this summer are: E.T., Babe, Annie, Stuart Little, Rudy, Monsters, Inc. and The Parent Trap.

Schroers said he budgeted about $2,000 for this year's program - an amount that would barely cover the cost of hiring a private company to show one movie.

With VHS and DVD movies donated by Blockbuster and a $5,000 projector borrowed from the Police Department, all the city had to provide was a movie screen.

With the city's purchase of Carroll Theatre for a community and performing arts center, Schroers acquired the 12-foot-by-20-foot movie screens once housed in the Main Street theater during its duplex days.

It would have cost the city up to $4,000 to purchase the screens.

"You can't fit it in your living room," said Schroers, who noted a screen will be attached to poles behind the basketball court.

The park's grassy field - behind Schroers' office at Longwell Municipal Center - can accommodate up to 5,000 spectators. Schroers expects about 300 to 400 people to attend each movie.

He encouraged people to take food, beverages and blankets for a night under the stars. A concession stand will run by the Westminster-area Jaycee girls' softball program.

No pets or alcohol are allowed.

Schroers said warmer temperatures will be a pleasant change from the month of movies held in October last year. One night, Schroers remembered, was especially cold.

"It was a long movie, too, either The Sound of Music or Gone With the Wind, and by the end of the night there was only a dozen of us left.

"We couldn't wait for it to end, we were shivering so much," he said.