Cats' Pyjamas Cat Café back at 'square one' after June fire

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Nearly six months after the Adams Street fire in downtown Springfield, affected businesses are able to get back on their feet. The Cats' Pyjamas Cat Café got a new storefront roughly three months ago, and it's been a long road to get where they are now.

Tom Raymond, owner of The Cats' Pyjamas Cat Café said that the days after the fire happened, they weren't concerned about finding a new storefront or relocating. "I wasn't quite sure what moving forward would be like because the main purpose -- our main goal we had initially -- was just to get the cats adopted and get them out of our care. We just wanted to complete our mission one last time with the demolition of our last location."

Raymond said the outpouring of support from the community is what pushed him to re-open a new location. He said after they found their new storefront, the community showed up again to help get everything done. "We were lucky to get the painting done rather quickly with the support of local community members, volunteers, staffers, people who just kind of stepped up and showed up. We were able to get paint done with over one weekend." All the furniture in The Cats' Pyjamas is donated or was purchased second hand from local stores. "We really dug deep back into the community to get all the resources we could to get back in our feet, here. It really took everyone, from the ground up, to get back on our feet." said Raymond.

The Cats' Pyjamas Cat Café is currently accepting donations of Purina cat food and dust-free, clumping kitty litter. Their hours have been adjusted from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. On Mondays and Tuesdays, they have free hours from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., where the community can come and check out the new location and meet with some furry friends. They are also participating in the Springfield Downtown Holiday Walks from 4pm-8pm, where they will have half-priced hot drinks and 10% off of merchandise.