Southern New Hampshire University is gearing up for a nearly $20 million construction project to include a new academic building, dining hall and parking lot on North River Road.

If approved by the town, the university plans to break ground this summer; construction will last 16 to 18 months, SNHU President Paul LeBlanc said. “I think this set of projects is a dramatic start to our second 75 years,” LeBlanc said. “These are dramatic, state-of-the-art buildings that reflect the latest in sustainability. I think they reflect a level of confidence and maturity in the institution.”

Both the dining hall and academic building will be “green,” using environmentally friendly features such as low-flow plumbing.

Money for the project -- three years in the making -- will come from the university’s cash reserves, plus up to $16 million in bonds. Sen. Judd Gregg, RN. H., helped procure $2 million in federal funds for the academic building.

It’s a far cry from the school’s humble beginnings in the late 1960s, when it was housed on the second floor above the Palace Fruit Company on Hanover Street in Manchester, LeBlanc said.

The $6 million, two-story academic building will have nearly 33,500 square feet, five classrooms and 24 offices for the School of Community Economic Development. There will be a state-of-the-art case study room and the latest in multimedia features. The building will include a large cafe for students to enjoy coffee, sandwiches and salads. Nearby there will be study rooms and booths.

“It’ll be more noisy than the library, but quieter than the dining hall,” LeBlanc said.

The school’s growth has led to a need for space. In the last seven years, enrollment has jumped nearly 30 percent. There are now approximately 1,900 full-time undergraduate students. Over the past two years, more than 100 full- and part-time faculty members have been hired.

SNHU owns 230 acres east of North River Road and recently built four new dorms -- adding 550 beds -- and a new academic building there. The latest building project continues that expansion, LeBlanc said.

“This is in accordance with our campus master plan to shift the center of gravity to that side of campus,” LeBlanc said.

The two-story, 47,700-squarefoot dining hall will seat 632 and will be located next to the academic building. It will cost $13 million to build the dining hall and install the necessary equipment. This will replace the school’s existing dining hall, which will be given a new use, not yet determined.

Also included in the construction project is a 150-space parking lot for nearby dorm residents with a price tag of approximately $350,000.

The plan is a scaled-back version of a previously proposed joint dining hall/student center, a school representative told the Hooksett Planning Board.

LeBlanc said next up is building a new student center on campus, one that would be nearby or attached to the dining hall. But he said that won’t happen for at least another five years.

Although the college is nearly at capacity for its undergraduate program, LeBlanc hopes to expand the school’s evening and online continuing education.

SNHU is also planning to spend $3.3 million on various deferred maintenance projects on campus, including new roofs, windows, siding and repairs to kitchens, bathrooms and dorms. Tuition will rise 7 percent next fall to $24,624, an amount that still leaves the college’s annual price tag below that of its peer schools, LeBlanc said.