The Austin Port Authority took one giant leap for Spam Wednesday after port authority members approved the conceptual designs for the upcoming Spam Museum relocation to downtown Austin.

“This is going to have a huge impact,” Port Authority Chairman Jerry McCarthy said.

The plan calls for a 14,000-square-foot building spread out over one floor. In addition, the museum will have blue-accented walls on the outside of the building, which port authority officials say will help bring a unique aspect to the downtown area.

The museum will go between Second and Fourth Avenues on the east side of North Main Street. The city of Austin is set to reopen Third Avenue Northeast between Main Street and First Street Northeast as well.

Hormel Foods Corp. announced the move in May. Demolition on various buildings surrounding the property began in September and construction is expected to start early this year. If all goes well, the museum will be open in spring or summer of 2016.

Community advocates and Vision 2020 volunteers had pushed for the Spam Museum to move into the Austin Utilities downtown power plant in 2012 as part of Vision 2020’s Utilities Building Committee plans.

Vision 2020’s Destination Downtown committee approached Hormel officials last fall about using the fire site formerly owned by the Austin Port Authority as a new location for the Spam Museum. Since then, Hormel has worked with several organizations including the city of Austin to move existing businesses out of the Ciola’s building and into other spaces.

Several of the museum’s exhibits — including the museum’s historical exhibits — will likely go into the new location, along with several new exhibits.