April 22, 2013--Palm Beach County is reviving a proposal to add a hotel to the Japanese gardens and museum at Morikami Park.

A new plan calls for building a Japanese-style, five-star hotel and spa -- without using taxpayers' money -- at the park off Jog Road that serves as a reminder of the Japanese immigrants who once farmed land west of Delray Beach.

"I think we could have something nice," county Parks and Recreation Director Eric Call said about the proposal, expected to go before the County Commission in May. "It would not supplant the Morikami. It would add to the Morikami."

While a hotel isn't the usual addition to a local park, Morikami is not the usual park.

Morikami -- named after the farming family that donated the land to the county 40 years ago -- includes 170 acres featuring soothing rock gardens, towering bamboo, koi ponds and bonsai displays as well as a Japanese museum.

Adding an authentic Japanese inn, or Ryokan, has long been part of park plans, but past efforts through the years fizzled on the business end.

There aren't many hotels near the park, so allowing an inn could provide a regional benefit that also boosts tourism, County Commissioner Mary Lou Berger said.

"I think it's a great possibility," said Berger, whose district includes the Morikami Park. "This is the closest we have gotten. ... We are ready to try again."

The latest push for building a hotel at Morikami came from Medical Missions for Children, a New Jersey-based not-for-profit group.

Medical Missions for Children focuses on helping undiagnosed hospitalized in developing countries. The hotel development would become a fundraiser for the group's medical missions, according to the proposal.

It also calls for building the hotel and spa on 14 acres at the park, connected to the gardens and museum.

To move forward, the County Commission will consider putting the Morikami hotel development opportunity up to bid to allow other interested developers to compete for the project.

Also, the proposal may require zoning approvals from the County Commission to allow building a hotel at a park.

Both decisions would trigger public hearings, allowing residents to weigh in on whether they support more building at the park.

"We are just in the early stages," Call said. "It may be an opportunity."

Having a hotel near neighborhoods west of Delray Beach could be beneficial for residents, depending on the size and design and its location at the park, said Lori Vinikoor, executive vice president of the Alliance of Delray neighborhood association. It also shouldn't be too pricey, Vinikoor said.

"It needs to be really worked into the whole Japanese setting and the beauty of the park," Vinikoor said. "We wouldn't have an objection do it, depending on where it is and how it's done."

Aside from the Morikami Inn proposal, Palm Beach County is already getting into the hotel business.

The County Commission in October agreed to provide a $27 million public subsidy to help revive long-stalled efforts to build a hotel beside the county's convention center across from City Place in West Palm Beach.

The convention center hotel project through the years has been plagued by construction delays and corruption scandals, in addition to criticism that public money should not be propping up a private hotel development.

The Morikami proposal is different, county officials say, because it wouldn't require an infusion of county cash for construction.

Instead, the county would provide hotel developers a long-term lease for property at the Morikami and receive lease revenue and property taxes from the hotel.

Supporters of building a Japanese-themed inn at Morikami contend it would fit right in at the park, which already hosts weddings, parties, festivals and other events.

Hotel construction impacts on park grounds as well as avoiding future public costs if the hotel fails are among the potential hurdles to the Morikami Inn proposal.

The troubled history of the convention center hotel proposal doesn't help.

Before the hotel proposal approved in October, a prior convention center hotel development deal stalled in 2008 and was linked to corruption scandals that ousted two county commissioners.

The Morikami Inn proposal would have built by an outside group because the county has "too many other needs" to commit money to building another hotel, Berger said.

Morikami Park commemorates the Japanese immigrants who came to southern Palm Beach County in the early 1900s to start a farming colony, called Yamato.

While the colony didn't take off as planned, George Sukeji Morikami's farming operation remained until the 1970s. He donated his land to the county in memory of the Yamato Colony.

Morikami Park opened in 1977 and a new Japanese museum followed in 1993.

Adding an inn has been part of park future plans, such as adding lakes, more gardens, exhibits and even an "artisan village."

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