The Hawaii Tourism Authority on Thursday agreed to provide $126,000 in emergency funding to keep the USS Arizona Memorial visitor center staffed and open during the partial government shutdown — which could extend into the new year.

That funding will start Saturday, and if the National Park Service can keep expenses to about $14,000 a day for staff, programs and utilities, the park can operate through Jan. 6, officials said.

“It’s an important thing because people come here specifically to see the Arizona Memorial,” the tourism authority said. “It’s an important historical site and it’s a memorial, so we really want to help with that.”

The contribution was made in coordination with the governor’s office, officials said.

Aileen Utterdyke, president and CEO of Pacific Historic Parks, a nonprofit that supports the Arizona Memorial, said the move by the tourism authority is “fabulous.”

States around the country have been ponying up money to keep open some of their biggest tourist attractions since the shutdown on Saturday. Arizona put up $64,000 for a seven-day plan so that Grand Canyon National Park would remain open, News 4 in Tucson reported.

Pacific Historic Parks and the three other nonprofit museums that operate in the orbit of the Arizona Memorial — the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, Battleship Missouri Memorial and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum — used their own funds to pay salaries and utilities for the National Park Service to keep the visitor center open through today.

The tourism authority funds take over after that.

“It’s difficult, obviously, because the income that’s being earned” by the nonprofits had to be redirected to pay the federal tab, Utterdyke said. “So it’s painful but we’re surviving. It’s the sustainability that’s the scariest part for us.”

The Hawaii Tourism Authority, funded through state taxes, was established in 1998 through a legislative act to serve as the state’s lead agency supporting tourism, Hawaii’s largest industry.

The site of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 — centered on the sunken battleship USS Arizona, a grave for over 900 men — is one of Hawaii’s most visited tourist attractions.

According to the National Park Service, 1.95 million people visited the Arizona Memorial in 2017, just under the 2 million who visited Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.

The government shutdown coincides with one of the busiest visitation times of the year for the Pearl Harbor museums.

The other museums rely on admissions and sales to help stay afloat. Pacific Historic Parks, which has about 15 of its people working at the Arizona Memorial daily, raises funds and receives income from the bookstore at the park.

The four nonprofits combined were putting up about $18,000 of their own money Saturday, Sunday and Monday to keep the park service operations funded, Utterdyke said.

The money is categorized as a donation and can’t be recouped from the federal government.

The nonprofits also committed about $14,000 a day Wednesday through today. The lesser amount of $14,000 a day was enough because scheduled vacation reduced the total needed, Utterdyke said.

Officials are looking for efficiencies to keep the Arizona Memorial visitor center open as long as possible if the shutdown continues, she said.

The Park Service is already grappling with underfunding, staff shortages and an $11 billion repair backlog, despite a 19 percent increase in visitors over the last five years, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

The four Pearl Harbor nonprofits have a collective fundraiser at takestockinamerica.net.

“Remember Pearl Harbor- Take Stock in America is a great way to restore and protect the hallowed grounds, showcase exhibits and artifacts that portray WWII history and the landmarks that weathered the attack on Pearl Harbor,” the site states. “We are working together to tell the story of Pearl Harbor from the devastation of war to the inspiration of peace.”