 MELBOURNE, Fla. - The president of the Brevard County Hall of Fame is spearheading an effort to have legendary rock star Jim Morrison's remains brought back to Florida from Paris. Born James Douglas Morrison on Dec. 8, 1943, at the former Brevard Hospital, the lead singer of The Doors is no stranger to controversy. Tice said that he received word that officials in Paris were interested in returning Morrison's remains to the states after contacting the owner of Morrison's childhood home.
– The Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris has long been rumored to be getting tired of its most famous American resident—and the tributes his fans leave behind—but a fan in Jim Morrison's Florida birthplace says he has a new home for the the Doors singer. John Tice, a city councilman in Melbourne, Brevard County, operates the Brevard Hall of Fame and he tells Florida Today that he plans to talk to officials in Paris about bringing Morrison's remains back to the US. Morrison "was the most popular public figure from this area, in my opinion," Tice says, adding that he "can see the Morrison display morphing into something much bigger." Tice plans to hold a fundraising drive if he gets permission to move the remains from the city where Morrison died in 1971. Tice tells WKMG that he's waiting to hear from officials that he contacted after hearing that the lease on Morrison's Paris grave may be up soon. He says he expects controversy if the singer, who was born in Brevard Hospital 72 years ago, is moved to Melbourne. "I think it's going to be mixed reviews," he says. "I think some people will say, 'I can't wait.' I think other people will say, 'Shame on you.'" Florida Today notes that Morrison didn't linger in Melbourne for long: Baby Jim and his mother moved elsewhere in Florida after six months when his father, a Navy pilot who later became an admiral, graduated flight training and left to serve in the Pacific theater of World War II. (In 2010, Florida pardoned Morrison for a 1969 indecent exposure conviction.)