This Friday, Ocean Beach Park in New London will commemorate its 75th anniversary, and it is certainly an occasion worth celebrating.

In the first installment of his recent two-part series, John Ruddy — The Day’s copy desk chief who occasionally writes about local history for this publication — recalls how the seaside resort emerged from New England’s greatest natural disaster in modern times, the Hurricane of 1938. Once city officials decided to move in a new direction, the transformation of the beach area was remarkably speedy if not always remarkably smooth, Mr. Ruddy recounts in day two of the series.

Though the celebration is Friday, the actual anniversary is today, June 30. On that day back in 1940, just 21 months after the hurricane had devastated the area, visitors arrived at Ocean Beach Park to stride along its boardwalk, view its large outdoor pool and admire the Art Moderne bathhouse and pavilion.

By today’s standards, it is an unimaginably short amount of time for such a turnaround. Today the process would have required evaluation of environmental impacts, a more deliberative hearing and appeals process, and time to solicit state and federal funding to help make such a project possible. Instead, New London alone issued the $2.5 million in bonding to pay for it.

The safeguards provided by modern statutory requirements are largely for the better. Yet it is fair to acknowledge that to some extent our communities have lost their ability to get big things done expeditiously in the face of any opposition.

As for the entertainment venue that the policies and trends of the late 1930s and early 1940s produced, it continues to serve its purpose — a place for the working class to seek relief from the summer’s heat and an opportunity for affordable amusement. Spectacular views of Long Island Sound, ornamented by ferry traffic and sailboats, mix comfortably with a bit of the honky-tonk and the smell of fried foods.

New additions include the volleyball courts at the west and of the beach, water playground, and a nature trail. Ocean Beach Park, with its cross-section of humanity, may get crowded, but it never gets dull. The entertainment continues most every night in the summer. You won’t find much of that at your staid town beaches.

On Friday, that entertainment will include live music, a circus aerial show, fireworks and laser lights. All that’s missing is the clock tower. Some things do change.