This is not new, the situation has been going on for 20 years, although they began to advertise the problem a bit better during the Span-Am centenial.
It is the responsibility of the Olympia's preservation association to drum up the funds to keep it afloat. The problem isn't limited to the Olympia - in good economic times, various associations adopted historic ships to preserve, while they all are struggling now in bad economic times. The Yorktown, down in Charleston has been threatened by the Navy.
A big part of problems with naval antiquities is the US Navy itself. It claims ownership of any vessel which was once commissioned, as well as any and all prizes taken, and even to enemy combatants sunk (famously, in a lawsuit, the CSS Alabama, when a diver began bringing up bits like the ships bell).
The US Navy has a horrific track record with preserving historic landmark ships. In example, it allowed the America to sink at its moorings in Anapolis, after decades of neglect. After Pearl Harbour, the citizens of Oregon donated their museum ship, the battleship Oregon back to the US Navy, as a symbolic measure fter the loss of the Pacific Fleet Battleships - the navy turned it into an accomodation ship, then instead of giving it back to the State of Oregon after the war, scrapped it- amidst protests of scrapping the only surviving Span-Am war battleship. They threatened the USS Constitution with destruction on at least two seperate occassions.
Frankly, certain historic ships belong to the people of the United States, and should be taken out of the hands of the Navy. They have shown zero interest in preservation, in the last 160 years, and refuse to place any effort or money into the process. If we lose the Olympic, ultimately, the fault lies with teh US Navy and its adamant (and assinine) policies in regards to its former property.