Editing Bethany Beach, Delaware (section)

====1962–1979====
Development of the area resumed after the 1962 storm. A new post office opened in 1965 and the town's first bank in 1966.<ref name="Meehan, p. 147"/> Construction of Bethany West, a major new development in the western part of Bethany Beach proper, began in 1966–1967.<ref name="Meehan, p. 93"/> A new town hall and police station opened in 1970.<ref name="Meehan, p. 147"/>

Plans for a beach and tennis community, Sea Colony, centered on nine high-rise condominiums situated on a private beach between Bethany Beach and South Bethany, began in 1969; these buildings, the Bethany Beach area's first and only high-rises, opened in the early 1970s. The 1,200-[[townhome]] Sea Colony West low-rise beach and [[tennis]] resort development later was added just inland.<ref name="Meehan, p. 93, 155"/> Plans for Sea Colony met bitter opposition from longtime Bethany Beach residents, who were dismayed at the thought of high-rises and large crowds in the area;<ref name="Meehan, p. 96">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=96}}</ref> town regulations had been designed to prevent the construction of high-rises within town limits.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=95}}</ref> Opponents of Sea Colony marched in protest and engaged in protracted legal efforts to block construction of the resort, but the property lay outside the town limits and their efforts to block the construction of Sea Colony failed.<ref name="Meehan, p. 96"/> Sea Colony went on to become a very successful resort.<ref name="Meehan, p. 155"/>

Bethany Beach installed its first [[parking meter]]s in 1974, and they have become a major source of seasonal revenue for the town. In 1975, Bethany Beach installed a [[sewerage]] system and repaved its roads.<ref name="Meehan, p. 147"/> A [[bandstand]] was built on the boardwalk in 1976, and serves to this day as the venue for musical performances and cultural events.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=99}}</ref> The Bethany Beach-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce began operations in 1976.

On December 22, 1976, a sculpture (widely but incorrectly referred to as a "[[totem pole]]") created by Hungarian sculptor [[Peter Wolf Toth|Peter Toth]] – who donated at least one sculpture to each of the 50 [[State (United States)|U.S. states]] as well as to locations in [[Canada]] in his "Trail of the Whispering Giants" project, a tribute to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] – was dedicated at the intersection of Delaware Avenue (Route 1) and Garfield Parkway.<ref name="Meehan, p. 147"/><ref name=chieflittleowl>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=<!-- not stated --> |title=Totem Pole: "Chief Little Owl" |url=https://www.townofbethanybeach.com/325/Totem-Pole |website=Town of Bethany Beach |location= |publisher=Town of Bethany Beach |access-date=May 11, 2025}}</ref> The installation of the sculpture was controversial; many residents viewed it as irrelevant to Bethany Beach, where no history of Native American activity has been found. Although opponents of the sculpture suggested that its installation at Oak Orchard, the hub of Nanticoke settlement since the mid-17th century, would be much more appropriate, Toth wanted a more visible location and the sculpture was erected in Bethany Beach.<ref name="Meehan, p. 15"/><ref name=history/> The sculpture was named "Chief Little Owl" in honor of a Nanticoke chief of that name.<ref name=chieflittleowl/>