EVERETT — City crews are applying fresh paint to downtown lampposts, sprucing up flower baskets and preparing to hang welcome banners along Hewitt Avenue.
Hotels are lining up French, German, Chinese and Japanese translators to accommodate guests, and downtown restaurants are expanding business hours and streamlining menus to prepare for a rush of patrons.
In just 36 days, the cameras of NBC Sports, Canada’s CBC Television and Japan’s TV Asahi will be focused on Everett, which is hosting the 2008 Skate America ice skating competition.
“It’s really important that we roll out the red carpet for all of the guests who will be at the event,” said Amy Spain, executive director of Snohomish County Tourism Bureau.
Promoters expect the event to draw 30,000 visitors who will collectively spend a few million dollars. And they’re anticipating a worldwide television audience of 2.4 million people.
About 60 of the world’s top figure skaters from 15 countries will compete for gold at the 2008 Skate America competition Oct. 24-26.
The three-day, Olympic-style competition is the kickoff to the International Skating Union’s six-event Grand Prix series, which continues in Ottawa, Beijing, Paris, Moscow and Tokyo.
Kimmie Meissner, Mirai Nagasu, Rachael Flatt, Evan Lysacek, Johnny Weir, and pairs Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker are some the big-time skaters expected to converge on Snohomish County next month.
Skate America can have a positive effect on businesses, and a successful event can open doors for a city.
Spokane hosted its first Skate America in 2002 and built on its success by landing the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
It will host the U.S. Championships again in January 2010, when the event will be used to select the American team for the following month’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.
Some of the event’s luminaries — including skating officials and Michelle Kwan — stayed at Spokane’s The Davenport Hotel and Tower in 2002.
Matt Jensen, director of marketing for the luxury hotel, said hosting a successful event required a lot of coordination and attention to detail.
“The international aspect of Skate America is a lot like having an Olympic event in your area,” he said.
A collection of Snohomish County business and government organizations are holding a meeting at Everett Station next week to talk about how businesses can prepare for and benefit from the Skate America competition.
Joel Starr, owner of Tailgater Joe’s sports bar, which is near the arena, said he plans to limit his menu and add staff during the events to handle what he expects will be a sizable influx of patrons.
Starr, who is also an Everett Area Chamber of Commerce board member, hand-delivered invitations to the Skate America meeting to about 30 downtown Everett restaurants and bars.
“My challenge for them is: Be ready,” Starr said.
Everett spokeswoman Kate Reardon said Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson also sent letters to businesses, asking them to have enough supplies and staff to handle crowds. The brand-new 370 room Tulalip Hotel is the official hotel for Skate America participants and officials.
Brett Magnan, Tulalip Resort Casino’s executive vice president, said the hotel is working closely with law enforcement to help escort the skaters to the venue in Everett.
It’s also assembling translators to help guests and is a preparing Skate America receptions.
Laura Lee with Production Sports, the Edmonds company that won the bid to host Skate America, said the Everett event is closing in on a 29,000-ticket sales record set by Spokane in 2002.
She said there are still plenty of tickets left, ranging from $22 to $56 for single events. Packages to all six events — women’s and men’s singles, pairs and ice dancing — can be had for $125.
It’s also not too late to sign up as a volunteer to greet arriving athletes at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport or to serve as “roving ambassadors” in the arena, pointing people to area restaurants and other points of interest.
“It’s sharing their back yard with the world,” Lee said.
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