Royal Athletic Park, home of the Victoria HarbourCats (summer collegiate; West Coast League) will be pressed into service as shelter for the city’s homeless population, as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Areas inside Royal Athletic Park will be used by the City of Victoria to create appropriate social distancing for the city’s homeless population, according to a team press release.
“This is bigger than any of us individually, as people or as companies or government departments,” said HarbourCats Managing Partner and Co-Owner Jim Swanson via press release, speaking on behalf of the team’s ownership group that also involves Rich Harder, Ken Swanson and John Wilson.
“This is a time for compassion, and action. Working with Mayor Helps, and with key City staff, this is the right thing for all to do. We all must do our part to flatten the curve, so this can have the least impact on life and health, and allow us to recover sooner.
“We all need to stay at home, keep our distance, not gather in any groups at all, wash our hands and stay clean, and be vigilant — so we can get back to normalcy. Baseball takes a back seat right now, that’s for sure — and let’s focus on the HarbourCats only after we focus on each other. Our season doesn’t arrive until June, we have the luxury of time, let’s deal with now and worry about later, later.”
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