Kansas University definitely will have a new softball facility next season.

Gary Kempf, KU assistant athletic director in charge of softball, made it official Thursday afternoon.

“We’re real excited to get it going,” Kempf said. “We hope to break ground as soon as possible before June 1.”

Three weeks ago, the planned upgrade of spartan Jayhawk Field, KU’s softball facility since 1985, had been put on hold in spite of a $2 million gift last November from Cheryl Womack of Mission Hills because more money was needed in order to break ground.

Womack’s gift is in increments of $400,000 over a five-year period, Kempf said. Funds from the first two years of her donation will be used to complete Phase One of the project at a cost of about $1.3 million.

The additional half-million dollars, Kempf said, “we were able to do internally.”

The Jayhawks’ new softball home will be built on the site of the old facility. Home plate will be repositioned from the southwest corner to the current center field, the field will be lowered about three feet and state-of-the-art sunken dugouts will be installed.

Permanent stands, concession areas, rest rooms and a press box will be included in Phase Two. The third phase will feature construction of locker and equipment rooms for both softball and soccer. Overall, it’s a $4 million-plus project.

“We don’t know right now about Phases Two and Three,” Kempf said. “They depend on fund-raising.”

Here is a conceptual drawing for the new stadium that will be the future home of Kansas University's softball team. The first phase of construction, consisting of a new field and dugouts, will begin this month and is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2004 season.

Iowa State and Kansas are the only Big 12 Conference schools without a softball stadium and, while the Jayhawks won’t have a stadium as such next season, they will have taken a giant step toward parity with the league majority.

“It’s important for recruiting,” KU coach Tracy Bunge said. “This project has been out there. It was announced. Now the university has come through.”

Essentially, KU officials felt a half a loaf was better than no loaf at all.

“It will be quite a half a loaf. I don’t know if I’d call it that,” Kempf said. “The athletes go where the surface is.”

Most of the Phase One cost will go toward assuring the new facility will have no drainage problems and that the infield will feature the latest in surface technology.

“The reason the figure is so high,” Bunge said, “is because there are water drainage problems there, and we want it done right. Also, every coach I talked to said don’t shortchange the surface, do it right.”

The infield, Bunge said, will be composed of dirt and a synthetic compound that will dry quickly and also will alleviate costs of watering. The outfield will be a mixture of bluegrass and fescue.

Bunge and assistant coaches Julie Wright and Aaron Clopton currently are scouting high school juniors and Thursday’s announcement should give recruiting a shot in the arm.

“The immediate impact will be on kids we’re looking at now,” Bunge said. “They’ll see progress is being made. We haven’t wanted to take recruits to our facility for the last several years.”

• Notes: Because of the construction, KU will practice this fall at Youth Sports Inc. fields in southwest Lawrence. … When complete, the stadium will be known as Demostenes Arrocha Stadium in honor of Womack’s father, a Panamanian immigrant. … Pitcher Kassie Humphreys, a KU signee from Glendale, Ariz., was featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter this week after striking out 30 batters in a 17-inning marathon during the state’s Class 4A regional tournament. Humphreys will report to KU in August.