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State officials have long known the Alaska State Archives needed a new home, but had hoped to move out of the troubled building before the roof, well, fell in.

The Legislature has appropriated money to start work on the new building, which is in design.

In 2003, the state Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums received an appropriation of $1.5 million to purchase land next to the Alaska State Museum on Whittier Street.

More recently, supporters of a new archive building, which included the Juneau delegation with crucial backing from Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, received an appropriation of $7.5 million for the design work.

Ellis said supporters of the new facility invited former Gov. Sarah Palin to tour the problem building. The tour may not have happened, but she did include $4.5 million in her budget for preliminary work, he said.

Ellis, former Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, and others managed to convince the Legislature's Finance committees to increase that to $7.5 million, $3 million more than the governor had requested, even in times of tight budgets.

"We held our breath, but she did not veto increasing her amount to our amount," Ellis said.

Ellis said Elton's replacement, Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, had taken up a leadership position in advocating for a new building as well.

"Dennis Egan, Beth Kerttula and Cathy Muñoz are all helping on this, but it is not a Juneau issue, it is a statewide issue," he said.

Kerttula said she was dismayed that archive material, which likely included records from Egan's father, Alaska's first Gov. Bill Egan, and her own father, former Sen. Jay Kerttula, may have suffered water damage.

"I'm hoping that his father's and my father's records were not damaged," she said.

Even before the roof issue this week, Ellis said the Alaska State Archives building was running out of space and had been forced to use storage elsewhere. At the same time, the state library's historical collection needs a new home.

Ellis said the goal now is to secure $75 million to build the new structure.

"It does have an overall high price tag, but I think it is worth it to consolidate it in a safe, adequate building," he said.

Archives supporters are currently circulating a letter to Gov. Sean Parnell, seeking support for the project. Kerttula said that effort was netting strong support.

Ellis said much of the backing came from outside Juneau because of the project's value to the state, and that was going to be important because of the cost involved.

"This is going to be a heavy lift, but this project has statewide significance," he said.

• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at523-2250 or by e-mail at patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.