Initially, Mondrian's Place was supposed to be named Jimmy's. That would fit with the Best Friends way -- commemorating significant buildings and structures after significant Best Friends animals and people, not abstract artists like the Dutch painter, Piet Mondrian. (He never painted anything for Best Friends.)
But not everything goes according to plan. Back in 1997, Best Friends co-founder Vivian Ebbs was given the responsibility of naming the four buildings under construction in the Wildcat Village in Cat World. One of them was Jimmy's, er, Mondrian's. Vivian wanted to name the building after a beautiful feral cat, Jimmy.
"He moved into Best Friends with 20 feral companions found in an old trailer outside of town," she recalls. "I thought of Jimmy as the colony ringleader; sweet, loving and seemingly grateful to be living in such a happy place. It seemed to make sense to name the building after him."
The late Paul Eckhoff, co-founder and architect for Best Friends, designed the interior of the building with a great deal of flair. He created a brightly colored pole bridging floor and ceiling. Surrounding the pole were several large brightly colored blocks with various openings for the cats to play in, on and around.
Another founder, Gabriel DePeyer, came by during the construction period to check up on the progress at Mondrian's. Vivian says Gabriel thought the room looked "a little too bright."
But then Gabriel got used to the idea. In fact, he grew to like the way the building looked because it reminded him of, you guessed it, Mondrian.
So Gabriel approached Vivian and asked her, "Just how married are you to the idea of naming the place Jimmy's? Would you consider renaming it Mondrian's?"
She said she'd consider it.
A few weeks later, Paul approached Vivian and asked her, "Just how married are you to the idea of naming the place Jimmy's? Would you consider renaming it Mondrian's?"
"So, I agreed," says Vivian. "We thought initially the ‘right' cat would come to Mondrian's and we would name him or her Mondrian -- but that never happened. But that's not to say it won't at some point."
Mondrian's remains the brightly decorated safe haven for feral and semi-feral cats at Best Friends. But the sentiment behind the building will always be connected to Jimmy.
Written by Amy Abern
As part of Best Friends’ 25th anniversary in 2009, our goal is to double our membership, so we can double our efforts to bring about a time when all companion animals have a forever home. What can you do to help? Give the Gift of a Best Friends membership to family and friends.
Posted
Jul 02 2009, 02:10 PM
by
amyAbern