Centex, Opryland Hotels and its parent company, Nashville-basedGaylord Entertainment, have confirmed the contract is waiting forlegal signoffs so the "i's" can be dotted and the "t's" crossed, afeat that is hanging on the eve of Centex Corp.'s second quarter2001 earnings report to be released Wednesday. Executives for allparties yesterday had declined comment, saying the pending contractneeds to be finalized before its details or information about aconstruction start would be forthcoming.

The contract decision had been made, but not announced, about aweek after Gaylord Entertainment had secured $200 million ininterim financing for Opryland Hotel Texas and a sister project,Opryland Hotel Florida and general corporate purposes from MerrillLynch Mortgage Capital Inc.

The hotel trio--Nashville, Texas and Florida--is being marketedto convention groups that like to rotate meetings from state tostate. The 1,400-room Opryland Hotel Florida at Kissimmee-St.Cloud, which is being topped off this week, already has nearly600,000 room nights under contract and its grand opening isn'tuntil Feb. 2, 2002. according to Dave Jones, president and CEO ofGaylord's Opryland Hospitality Group. Another 700,000 room nightshave been reserved for contracts and proposals in negotiation,Jones previously had reported.Opryland Hotel Texas held itsofficial ground-breaking ceremony June 7, launching the third hoteland conference center for Gaylord Entertainment. Currentconstruction is seeing the completion of a bridge to the 77-acresite situated on the southern tip of Lake Grapevine, just six milesfrom the Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport and minutes fromone of the state's largest malls, Grapevine Mills. The project isslated for a grand opening in spring 2003.