The Hawai'i baseball team will play on a new surface next season at Les Murakami Stadium.

The only question remains is when will it be installed.

Hawai'i announced yesterday that the $2 million released by Gov. Linda Lingle will be used to replace the 13-year-old artificial turf with a surface to be determined. The remaining money will be used to refurbish as many seats possible. Seams in the stadium's turf are visible from the upper level and a number seats from the 23-year-old stadium are discolored and some are loose. Hawai'i athletics director Herman Frazier said stadium improvements will be done in phases, with the turf being first and the seats later.

Frazier said UH is awaiting bids from prospective vendors. He said the preference is for FieldTurf, which is used at Aloha Stadium and at Saint Louis School.

"They're working on those right now, so I suspect something could hopefully be out in the next 30 days," Frazier said of the bids.

While the turf is expected to be installed in time for the Feb. 1 workout date, the stadium is used in the offseason. The Hawaii Island Movers summer team has used the stadium in past summers, but it will spend a portion of the summer in Japan and it has already made plans to play at other sites. Hawaii Winter Baseball is anticipating using the stadium from early October to near the Thanksgiving weekend. Also, the Rainbows hold workouts in the fall.

"Our intent is to start on this project right away," Frazier said. "How far that takes us, we just have to wait and see. Our main concern, though, is the University of Hawai'i baseball team."

There are two windows for installation, the earliest being the summer and the next apparently between Thanksgiving and Feb. 1. Because of the bidding process, the latter might be the alternative. Frazier added another factor that affects the installation date is that once the turf is selected, it has to be shipped here from the Mainland. If that is the case, Hawaii Collegiate Baseball, which has used Aloha Stadium the past two summers, is hoping to get to use UH.

Al Kam, HCBL chairman, said he is working with Frazier and Aloha Stadium interim manager Scott Chan, but said his league will start play June 15.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.