The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center’s plans for a new interpretive center will become a reality after the center received a $5 million grant from the Hormel Foundation earlier this week, which will cover the bulk of the $7-million project.

Foundation Chairman Gary Ray described it as an easy, unanimous decision for the Foundation board, which saw it as carrying on the legacy of former Hormel Foods Corp. head Jay Hormel.

“We’re really excited about it,” Ray said.

Nature Center Executive Director Larry Dolphin was thrilled with the Foundation’s grant.

“The Hormel Foundation was a key with us going ahead,” he said.

With the Foundation’s grant, the Nature Center has about $5.8 million for the new interpretive center.

The project was announced last year in part to bring more room to the facility and in part because the current interpretive center is in the flight path for the Austin Municipal Airport.

The interpretive center will be 15,000-square-feet — three times the size of the current building — and it will be built to northeast of the maintenance building.

Nature Center leaders are now looking to fundraise $1.2 million, most of which will be used for programming at the new facility.

The project is set to go out for bids late next year, with construction beginning in spring of 2016. The project is slated to be done in the fall of 2017.

Read the full story in tomorrow’s Herald.