In more good news for the embattled convention center project, planners for the city reportedly stated that there will be enough new hotel rooms built in the city by the time the convention center is slated to open in 2004. In legislation from 1997 regarding the center, it stipulates that the city will need 4,800 rooms to accommodate the center.

The ongoing source of concern for the center developers is the convention center hotel that has yet to nail down its financing. Its 1,120 rooms are vital to the success of the center. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the convention center hotel developers, would lose its $15 million deposit if it doesn't line up financing, but a skittish market makes the financing of a large hotel project less than a sure thing.

Meanwhile, the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau is funding a study--commissioned by the governor's office--to determine the viability of a large convention center in the current market. The final report will be ready sometime this fall.