Rose Garden employees paint the center logo for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on the ice at the arena in Portland in preparation for this week's national championships. Associated Press Photo.

PORTLAND - A burly construction worker wielding a wheelbarrow full of sand lumbered Tuesday in the same spot where Michelle Kwan will gracefully glide this week as Portland prepared for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The event starts Sunday and runs through all of next week at both Portland's Rose Garden Arena and the adjoining Memorial Coliseum.

This week workers readied the ice in both venues.

Although crews have experience putting down ice for the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL, the nationals required altogether different preparations.

First, the rinks are longer for figure skating than for hockey, and the ice is thicker. The quality of the ice has to be better.

Which explains the sand at Memorial Coliseum, which workers spread out over coils of tubing containing coolant. The sand will be sprayed and frozen to form a hard surface before layers of ice are applied.

Mike Rosenberg, the event's managing director in Portland, watched the process Tuesday. He said he believed the city's bid for the event was attractive because of the adjoining venues.

Rosenberg said the nationals are expected to bring anywhere from $15 million to $30 million to the city. Tickets still remain for all the events, he said, although it is expected the big names will generate the biggest crowds.

Like Kwan, who has won eight U.S. titles and five World Championships.

"She always puts everything on the line," said Olympic gold medalist and current ABC television commentator Peggy Fleming.

Kwan recently unveiled a new program set to "Bolero," the same music Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean used for their magical Olympic performance in 1984. She'll face competition from Sasha Cohen, the 2004 world and U.S. silver medalist. Jennifer Kirk, who placed third behind those two at nationals last year, will also compete.

Men's competitors will include reigning national champion Johnny Weir and 2004 runner-up Michael Weiss.

And Fleming predicts that unexpected stars will likely emerge.

"Every year I think, well, maybe nothing will happen," she said. "But something always happens."

The national championships have come to the Rose City before, back in 1978. But that was before the saga of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan raised the sports' profile considerably.

This year's event is expected to bring more than 125,000 visitors - including some 250 skaters - to Portland.