‘People are listening.’ Tyre Nichols Skate Park opens with upgrades in Sacramento

T-shirts at the Tyre Nichols Skate Park grand opening Sunday displayed a picture of his face with the words, “Happy 30th Birthday.”

Nichols, who would have turned 30 on June 5, was beaten by five Memphis Police Department officers following a traffic stop on Jan. 7. He was severely injured during that confrontation with police and died of his injuries Jan. 10. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 2020 to be closer to his mother. Prior to that, he lived in Sacramento for most of his life.

Nichols’ love of skating during his life led him to spend thousands of hours at Natomas’ Regency and Tanzanite parks while in Sacramento, according to friends. On March 28, Sacramento City Council voted unanimously to rename Regency Community Park to Tyre Nichols Skate Park.

Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan, who represents North Natomas, first announced the decision at a Feb. 4 memorial for Nichols at Sac Ramp Skate Shop.

“This skate park represents hope of a future,” Kaplan said before the event started Sunday. “We need to remember our past and make the future better. No mom should ever have to worry about losing their son or daughter over a traffic stop.”

Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, 61, is still a Memphis resident but attended Sunday’s ceremony in Sacramento. She said some of her son’s favorite pastimes were photography, watching sunsets and skateboarding. Wells said Nichols was cremated and placed in his room in Memphis facing west so he can always see the sunset.

A legacy through skateboarding

Wells said Nichols began skating at age 6.

Keyana Dixon, 41, Nichols’ older sister, said in February she remembered him coming home one day growing up, and he was noticeably upset with a “jacked up skateboard.”

“He tried to put it back together but it just didn’t work,” Dixon said. “My mom actually surprised him with a new skateboard and the rest is history.”

Dixon said her brother didn’t get the chance to fulfill what he was supposed to do and that she wants him to be remembered as a fun, kind and free-spirited young man that did not deserve any of what happened in January. She said Sunday that love, community and support are Nichols’ legacy.

“People coming together, it just honored him collectively,” she said.

In addition to changing the park’s name, the city partnered with the Skatepark Project to make upgrades, Kaplan said in March. The Skatepark Project is a nonprofit organization founded by Tony Hawk that has offered over 600 grants to help communities create safe, inclusive spaces specifically for young skateboarders.

Upgrades include a new spine section, tripling mini ramp capacity, a new pyramid hip section with small handrails, hubba ledges that lead down stairways, classic grind ledges, slappy curbs, manual pads and a proper flat bar, according to Misty Alafranji, chief of staff for Kaplan’s office.

These upgrades are encompassed by long quarter pipes that are fun for professionals and beginners alike, Alafranji said. Nichols’ favorite mini ramp was kept at his friends’ request “as it was his favorite and has his energy in the ramp.”

Friends of Nichols said he made skating look effortless, but he was more than just a good skater; he was a mentor for Black kids who would hang out at the parks and become influenced to skate.

Jesse Madsen, 46, of Oakland, drove to Sacramento on Sunday with his daughter and some family friends to pay respects to Nichols and the skate community “just to show them people are listening, people are watching and people care.”

“Skateboarding is like a second family or in some cases a first family for a lot of kids,” Madsen said. “Especially when I was a kid growing up in the ’80s, a lot of kids with broken homes would just come out and skate. Even if you’re having problems outside of skateboarding, like ‘Hey, I wasn’t getting good grades’ — whatever you need — a skate park is a community, a place to share your ideas and dreams.”