A new Lincoln skatepark will honor the legacy of longtime skateboarder and community advocate Kevin Wilkins.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announced Friday that the skatepark at Canopy Yard will be named the Kevin Wilkins Memorial Skatepark. Wilkins, 58, died of cancer Nov. 4, 2025. “Kevin wanted Lincoln to be a place where skateboarders could gather, where young people could find belonging and where people from different backgrounds could connect,” Gaylor Baird said. “Naming this skatepark in his honor recognizes both his extraordinary contributions to skateboarding and the deep commitment he had to Lincoln.”
Wilkins was a lifelong skateboarder, writer, editor, mentor and advocate whose work in the skateboarding industry took him around the world. He returned to Nebraska and focused on supporting communities new to skateboarding, including work in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. He also was involved in the decadeslong effort to bring a significant public skatepark to Lincoln, led by Phil Burcher, owner of Precision Skateboards and president of the Lincoln Skatepark Association…