STANDISH – After a decade of rising enrollments, St. Joseph’s College next month begins construction of a $10 million academic building, the school’s first new academic structure in 47 years.

The 50,000-square-foot, four-story building overlooking Sebago Lake will contain 32 classrooms, 50 faculty offices and a 150-seat auditorium.

Bob Sullivan, vice president for institutional advancement, says the recent growth of the small Roman Catholic college – it enrolled a record 970 students last fall – has exceeded everyone’s expectations and led to increases in faculty and academic programs.

The college’s strategic plan, completed in March 1999, recognized the need to expand existing facilities and build new ones, including two new dormitories and the new academic center.

The plan came during a time of rapid growth. During the past 12 years, enrollment has increased 54 percent and the faculty has grown by 76 percent. In that same time, academic space has increased by only 2 percent, according to data from the Marketing and Public Relations Office. The college began a capital campaign in 2001 and has collected $1.5 million in gifts and pledges toward the new academic center. It hopes to finance part of the building through the Finance Authority of Maine.