The status of the Greater Pittsburgh Automobile Association's annual auto show was in limbo last night.

Show organizers hoped to know by today whether the structural damage to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, was serious enough to cancel the popular event, which is scheduled to open Saturday and run through Feb. 18.

With 500 cars and trucks displayed by three dozen manufacturers, the show uses more than 300,000 square feet of convention center space and draws tens of thousands of visitors each year. It is far too big to move to any other local venue, especially on such short notice, said Dee Dee Taft, spokeswoman for the auto dealers.

"We can't do anything until they finish their inspection," she said. "We can't say either way whether the show will be delayed, but it's on until they tell us it's not on."

The only other buildings that have anywhere near the space needed for the auto show are the Mellon Arena and the Pittsburgh Expo Mart in Monroeville.

But events are scheduled for both venues this weekend and through next week.

The arena, which has at most just 30,000 square feet of exhibit space, is holding the Monster Jam truck show Friday through Saturday, the Xplosion has basketball games Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, the Penguins play the Chicago Blackhawks Feb. 14, George Strait is in concert Feb. 16, and Rod Stewart performs Feb. 17.

The Expo Mart has 106,000 square feet of space, but it is holding a model train show this weekend, and on Monday, the large Sport, Travel and Outdoors Show begins and runs through Feb. 18.

"We are full up," an Expo Mart security guard said last night.

Large hotels in town, such as the Hilton Pittsburgh and the Omni William Penn, have minimal exhibit space and would not be alternative sites for the auto show.