Byline: Gregory Smith

Jun. 25--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- To thrive, the Rhode Island Convention Center needs hundreds more hotel rooms to be built nearby, Convention Center Authority Chairman David A. Duffy said yesterday.

But he and Governor Carcieri continue to insist that the state can get them without taking the risk of lending a significant amount of money to a hotel developer.

Duffy said help already is on the way for the convention center in the form of two projects: the conversions of the Masonic Temple on Smith Hill into a luxury hotel with 250 rooms, and of two old commercial buildings downtown into a boutique hotel with 80 rooms and suites.

Work is ...