It is hereby declared that conditions resulting from the concentration in various cities and towns of the State having a population of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants of persons serving in the Armed Forces of the United States in connection with the present war, or who after having served in the Armed Forces of the United States during the present war, or previously have been honorably discharged, require the construction, maintenance and operation of adequate recreation facilities for the use of such persons; that it is in the public interest that adequate recreation facilities be provided in such concentrated centers; and the necessity, in the public interest, for the provisions hereinafter enacted is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination. (1945, c. 460, s. 2; 2011-183, s. 117; 2015-241, s. 24.1(g); 2015-268, s. 7.3(a).)