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Cork, Ireland, already has the butter museum. But Albany, Ga., might soon have the next-best thing: The Paula Deen Museum.

The Albany Herald reported that the love-her-or-love-to-hate-her Southern chef's museum would be housed in her childhood home. The venture has been led by B.J. Fletcher, an Albany businesswoman, and Deen's former husband, Jimmy Deen.

"It just takes my breath away that folks back in Albany would consider doing something like this," Deen told The Herald. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this incredible honor. I would want something like this to be a symbol of hope for people looking to make their lives better."

Paula Deen's rep did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

The controversial chef found herself in a firestorm of controversy when she announced in January 2012 that she had Type 2 diabetes, a condition she had known about for some time. Critics said that touting her high-fat recipes despite her diagnosis was irresponsible.

"When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you've been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you've got Type 2 Diabetes, it's in bad taste if nothing else," Anthony Bourdain, her most outspoken critic, was quoted as saying.

(Deen really does have a recipe for a hamburger on a doughnut. Find it here. No word on whether it will have a home in the new museum.)

RELATED: Paula Deen's Most Outrageous Recipes

The plan, the Albany Herald reported, is to move Deen's childhood home from its Whitney Avenue location to the plaza area at the Thronateeska Heritage Foundation. Museum neighbors would include the Wetherbee Planetarium, the Flint RiverQuarium, the river trail and the Art Park on Pine Avenue.