LOCALS: BUILDING THE FUTURE OF DETROIT WITH DERRICK DYKAS

December 4, 2015/ / VIDEOS/ Comments: 14

Everybody is waiting for the triumphant return of Detroit, but not everybody is sticking it out and working to make it happen. After going bankrupt in 2013, Detroit continues to be in flux. The unemployment rate is still double the national average, and the transportation and the financial system all need to be rebuilt from the bottom up.

Derrick Dykas is one of the dudes that is sticking it out and taking matters into his own hands. Raising money and getting signatures at punk shows, he was one of the major forces in getting The Wig, Detroit’s famous DIY skatepark, established. No professional builders. No prefab ramps. Every obstacle in the park was created and molded by the skaters and the community, building between their day jobs.

With that in mind, we took a quick flight to the D to continue our Locals series with Levi’s skateboarding and talked Derrick about the Wig and the future community built green skatepark that he is currently working on.

derrick dykas at work / photo: evan hutchings

derrick dykas at work / photo: evan hutchings

derrick dykas - front feeble / photo: evan hutchings

derrick dykas – front feeble / photo: hutchings

ron allen - hoop ride / photo: hutchings

ron allen – hoop ride / photo: hutchings

alex mueller - fs ollie / photo: hutchings

alex mueller – fs ollie / photo: hutchings

ryan kehrer - smith / photo: hutchings

ryan kehrer – smith / photo: hutchings

pat galloway - pivot fakie / photo: hutchings

pat galloway – pivot fakie / photo: hutchings

Comments

  1. neko

    December 5, 2015 1:09 am

    That last photo, damn! What a shot!

    Also, that park looks damn fun.

  2. Danny

    December 5, 2015 3:05 pm

    These photos are great!

  3. herbn

    December 6, 2015 4:46 pm

    kickflip pivot shoveit to fakie PG is the man

  4. Austin Angelo

    December 8, 2015 12:32 am

    I was just in detroit on a cross country trip. DETROIT IS THE SHIT> RAW AS FUCK!!!!!

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