





Walnut Hill Pocket Park is a transformative community project that has revitalized a vacant lot at 1324 N 41st Street in the Walnut Hill neighborhood of North Omaha.
This project is a collaboration between InCOMMON, Manifest Acres, and SkateFest Omaha to address the recreational and educational desires of the community while fostering positive change.
The property features a skateboarding ramp, soccer goal, and community garden beds.
Location: 1324 N 41st st
Times of use: Dawn to Dusk
Pricing: FREE


HOW IT STARTED:
inCOMMON conducted a study in the Walnut Hill neighborhood to determine the community's desires for recreational activities. The study revealed that the top three desires were soccer, skateboarding, and gardening.
They noticed we had previously helped build a skate ramp (Caden’s Corner) and reached out to us to help transform a vacant lot they owned. It turns out we JUST got a call beforehand about a ramp donation and were looking for a property to put it on, It felt like everything aligned perfectly, so we inevitably agreed to be apart.
The plan was simple: put exactly what the community desired on the property… skateboarding, soccer, and gardening.
GETTING/FIXING THE RAMP

When we first got the call for the ramp donation, we were thrilled. However when we showed up to get it… the ramp was sitting underneath a deck, full of mud, covered in leaves, and looked like it was rotted to the core. The bones were still solid, so we agreed to take it.
Getting this thing back to our warehouse was a struggle to say the least.
Moving this took 6 people, 3 dollies, and multiple trips struggling up and down a slippery hill for hours on end (A part of the ramp fell on our Music Director, Nik).
Once we got it back to the warehouse, the real work began… The ramp needed lots of repair, thorough cleaning, and many upgrades to get it ready for the mural process.
HOURS IN THE COLD
After hours of diligent work getting this thing ready for the mural, by the time we finished… Winter was here… and the warehouse does not have heating.
Deadlines still needed to be met, so Thomas stepped up and pushed forward with the mural through the bitter cold. All he had was a little space heater for this giant unheated warehouse...

“I remember walking into the warehouse to grab stuff and all I see is Thomas’ shivering hands holding a paintbrush sturggling through this mural” - Blake

After about 4-6 months of tirelessly working in a heatless warehouse during one of coldest Nebraska winters we’ve had in a while, Thomas finally finished the ramp mural around the end of springtime.
PLACING THE RAMP
By the time we added the finishing touches to the ramp, we found ourselves in the middle of the blistering Nebraska summer… and it was time to install the ramp on the property…
It took about a week of placing, adjusting, fixing unexpected problems, and more fine-tuning to finish the installation of the ramp. Ironically the timeline forced us to do all this during the hottest week of Summer 24’.

With the help of our friends at inCOMMON, we also installed other features on the property, including playground chips, garden beds, and a soccer goal.
CELEBRATION DAY
After all these trials and tribulations getting this thing ready, it was finally opening celebration day and we got to see all the hard work come to life.
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It was beautiful seeing all the community come together showing love and support for this project. We appreciate all the help from everyone involved.
To this day, you can drive by and see people using the ramp or playing soccer on the field. We’ve been teaching skate lessons here throughout the summer, and it has been amazing to see the positive impact it’s had on the neighborhood.


A heartfelt thank you to all the organizations and individuals who made this possible—we couldn’t have done it without you.
