Secreted away behind Tess’ Market, a small pathway opens to nearly four acres of sloping parkland where neighbors Louise Rosen and Laura Lienert saw potential.

On Thursday, the duo will debut a new family-friendly movie series at the downtown Nathaniel Davis Park, off Pleasant Street.

Rosen and Lienert hope the film series will spur townspeople to appreciate the downtown park that they believe to be a hidden gem.

The park, with a playground, a flat field for organized sports and playground, was built for around $63,431 and dedicated to the town in 1981.

“When you spotlight a portion of town that is otherwise unknown, you remember that and parents might take kids over there or think ‘we can go sledding there,’” Lienert said. “For us, we’d like to see more families moving into this area.”

But besides promoting the park, the two said Thursday’s free screening of “Captain America” and an Aug. 16 showing of “Dolphin Tale,” both hosted by the Northwest Brunswick Neighborhood Association (NWBNA), is about promoting more community-building events in town.

“It’s nice to have another area for community events other than Maine Street,” Lienert said. “When you’re a town of this size, it’s good to have more space.”

Rosen and Lienert said they were encouraged about the neighborhood’s future role in the local landscape after a review of the downtown area by city-planning consultants earlier this year that focused in part on the area of the neighborhood bordering Route 1 and the connection to the historic Androscoggin Swinging Bridge and Androscoggin River.

“We love our town and enjoy this community and the energy that comes out of this northwest historic district,” Lienert said, “and we like to spotlight this area of town.”

The duo is doing so with the help of a number of downtown business sponsors for the event as well, with concessions provided by the NWBNA and The Gelato Fiasco.

Rosen and Lienert hope that the family films will draw as many as 150 people to the park and that the movie series will kick off a new annual tradition in town that, next summer, would include a screening in June as well.

“We need more of these kinds of common experiences and shared experiences,” Rosen said. “That’s what building community is.”

Both screenings will start at dusk.

Parking will be available at the Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union parking lot at the intersection of Pleasant and Cushing streets.