PEARL HARBOR — Citing the importance of the landmark for the nation and her state, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano yesterday pledged financial support for the reconstruction of the USS Arizona Memorial visitors center, which is sinking in the oceanside gravel it sits on.

"Definitely some work needs to be done, and it's pretty astounding," Napolitano said after seeing the center's damp basement, where concrete pillars have been jacked up 30 inches in a race against settling soil.

"But the people of Arizona have a great relationship and a very close one with the USS Arizona, so I know they'll pitch in to help," the Democrat added.

Napolitano read a proclamation declaring 2006, the 65th year since the attack that ushered the United States into World War II, as the "Year of the USS Arizona Memorial."

A Prescott, Ariz., resident christened the battleship in 1915 with a bottle of the first water to flow over the state's Roosevelt Dam — along with the traditional champagne — and one of the ship's bells is kept in the state.

Napolitano and Gov. Linda Lingle toured the basement of the 24,000-square-foot visitors center, which was built in 1980 and was designed to accommodate 750,000 people a year, but draws double that.

Moored along Battleship Row, the USS Arizona went down with 1,177 crewmen when it was hit in the Japanese surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

The memorial has become the most visited National Park Service site in the Pacific, and backers are relying on a broad support base to help fund a new $34 million center.

About $11 million has been raised so far for the memorial through corporate and private donations. A congressional appropriation continues to be sought.

Lisa Ontai, a spokeswoman for the fundraising effort, said foundations and leadership across the country are being sought to "come on board."

"That's some of the effort that you saw happening," she said. "We now have the state of Arizona behind us."

No specific dollar amount has been pledged by the state of Arizona, but officials expect it to be in the millions.

The Navy, which operates the memorial in partnership with the National Park Service, plans to soon award a design and engineering contract for a new center. Groundbreaking is expected in March 2007.

"So the urgency to raise the funds and get the construction under way is immense right now," Lingle said.

"This is not only a Hawai'i campaign, this is a national campaign. The site is not just a part of Hawai'i's heritage but of the nation's heritage, and indeed, as you can tell from the visitors' names, it's a part of the world's heritage today."

Memorial historian Daniel Martinez showed Napolitano and Lingle an outdoor bronze topographic map of O'ahu showing the sites of Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941. Nearby, off Ford Island, the mostly submerged remains of the battleship Arizona and memorial are visible.

"Every airfield came under attack within the first 20 minutes," Martinez said. "After that 20 minutes, air power ceased to exist on O'ahu."

Looking across the harbor to Ford Island, Martinez added: "Imagine seven majestic battleships resting there ... and then torpedo planes skimming across the water at 30 feet."

John Iantorno, a California National Guardsman who was at Barbers Point on Dec. 7, 1941, was among a half-dozen survivors to accompany the two governors out to the memorial. Yesterday, he recalled the carnage.

"They were bombing and strafing us, and we were trying to get in here (Pearl Harbor)," the 83-year-old Californian said. "It was horrible to see all the burning sailors in the water."

From the center — where a theater shows a movie of the events leading up to the attack, historical items are displayed, and where a dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors meet visitors - it's a short boat ride to the memorial.

The basement, where water pools several inches deep after some rains, reveals heavy concrete pillars that have been jacked up repeatedly as the floor has sunk. But after a 30-inch adjustment, the pillars can't be raised further and still meet earthquake safety standards, officials said.

The visitors center was built on streamside gravel and landfill from dredging, resulting in the sinking. The new facility will be built on bedrock 130 feet down.

"In 1980, this was the best technology available," Martinez said. "The intention was this building was going to last. But it's obvious the best intentions in engineering didn't advance to this period, and we have to replace the building."

The new 24,000-square-foot center — the same size as the existing facility — will occupy some of the same ground, but also will extend to the east. National Park Service offices that are in the visitors center will be moved to a nearby building, providing more space for exhibits.

Interactive features are being sought, and planners would like to acquire a World War II aircraft to hang in the center. Design and engineering for a new facility is expected to take 16 to 18 months, and construction will take a similar time.

Chief Ranger Bernard Doyle said the existing facility can be used until then.

It's after ground is broken that the park service will look at "what kind of things can we still provide for the public as we disassemble this building," Doyle said.

The theater may go, and it could be just the essentials, like an audio program, brochure and the memorial tour itself, as construction proceeds. But the tours will continue.

"Absolutely," Doyle said. "If tomorrow we lost the entire visitors center, we would still be able to get people onto the memorial and back," he said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.