Saint Anselm College is launching a $14 million expansion and renovation of its campus this spring that will include a new residence hall, fitness center and educational space.

It is the most significant construction project Saint Anselm has undertaken since 2003, when it built the Sullivan Arena, home to college hockey games and the presidential debates a year ago.

“It is my hope that these projects will significantly improve our academic initiatives, our residential life and our physical exercise opportunities,” said Fr. Jonathan DeFelice, president of the college. “They will all be very valuable additions to our campus and are in accord with needs identified through our master planning process.”

The most significant of the three projects is the new residence hall, which will cost $9.5 million, according to a press release. The hall will have 150 beds for sophomores, eliminating the need for triple rooms.

The hall will have suites with singles and doubles along with common study and leisure areas. It is scheduled to open in fall 2009. The college has not decided where the hall will be located.

The new $2 million fitness center will be added to the south side of the Carr Center. The fitness center will have state-of-the- art cardiovascular exercise equipment, weight machines and free weights for the college community. The existing fitness center on the site will be renovated for use by varsity athletes.

In addition, the college will spend $2.5 million making over the Joan of Arc Sisters Convent into faculty offices and classrooms. The building was constructed in 1919 as a monastery for the Benedictine monks. Since 1955, it has been a convent for the Sisters of Joan of Arc, who have been on campus for 80 years. The three remaining members of the order at Saint Anselm are returning this spring to their mother house, which is in Quebec.

The economics and business, history and education departments will be moving into the renovated building, which should be ready by October.

It will also hold the “trading room,” where students learn to use a Bloomberg machine to follow financial markets. The new building will be named Joseph House, after Bishop Joseph Gerry, a former philosophy professor and administrator at the college.

Barbara LeBlanc, director of news and information for the college, said the expansion and renovations are not tied to any increase in the student body. “The college has no intention of increasing its enrollment,” LeBlanc said. “It wants to stay more or less the same size it is now.” The projects will be funded by a bond. The college said it also will be refinancing its prior debt at better rates. The bond is expected to be issued by May 1.