City of Sacramento skate park to be named after Tyre Nichols

The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the naming of the Regency Community skate park as "Tyre Nichols Skate Park."

Nichols was a Sacramento native who died after being beaten by five Memphis police officers in January.

The City's Department of Youth, Parks & Community Enrichment recommended the naming in coordination with Councilmember Lisa Kaplan and Mayor Darrell Steinberg. Regency Community Park resides in Kaplan's district.

The skate park in North Natomas did not have an official name prior to the vote Tuesday.

Nichols had a strong connection to the skate park at Regency Community Park and spent numerous hours of his youth skating and building friendships there, his friends, family and others have said.

"Not only are we naming the skate park 'Tyre Nichols,' but we will be doing upgrades on behalf of the Skate Park Project for future generations and future kids to fly and find their light," Kaplan said at Tuesday's meeting. "So that he is remembered as that bright light and that future generations can learn that we as a society can do better."

The Skate Park Project is a non-profit organization founded by professional skateboarder Tony Hawk that helps underserved communities create safe and inclusive public skate parks for youth.

The City usually requires a person to be deceased for more than a year before a facility can be named in their honor. City Council waived that requirement on the recommendation from the City's Parks and Community Enrichment Commission.

A bronze plaque is set to be featured on a concrete pad at the skate park. Kaplan said her office is planning a community celebration and naming dedication in June.

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