Like an episode of the original Star Trek, the Iowa Board of Regents thought it had passed through a time portal, hurling them decades into the past.

“I thought I had stepped into the 1920s,” said Regent President Michael Gartner after touring Gilman Hall Thursday morning.

However, unlike Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise, whose exploits focused on saving the United Federation of Planets, the Regents hopes their trip through time will save the ISU chemistry program.

Gartner said the Regents have made a renovation of Gilman Hall and the construction of a new chemistry building one of their top three capital project priorities.

However, Gartner said the Regents and Iowa State must complete a long process before ground can be broken on the project.

“First you have to get planning money,” Gartner said, “and I think that can happen during this legislative session.”

He said if the university can secure funds to begin planning the project, designing the new facility should follow.

“Generally, when you get that planning money, step two will follow,” he said.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said he hopes to secure state funding to plan the project this year.

“Depending on when we get that initial money, I’d like to start planning this year, hire an architect and things of that nature,” Geoffroy said.

Ideally, he said, the university would build a new 100,000-square-foot chemistry hall that would house classrooms and labs for undergraduate courses, while also renovating the facilities in Gilman Hall.

“Once the new building’s done, we’d have to figure out what to do with Gilman,” he said. “It wouldn’t be torn down.”

Geoffroy estimated the construction to cost $70 million, less than a third of which would come from private fundraising and the rest from state appropriations.

Des Moines Regent Rose Vasquez said the Board members, who toured Gilman Hall before reconvening for their regular meeting in the Scheman Building, seemed to agree that the building needs a face-lift.

“I can’t speak for the whole Board,” Vasquez said, “but there was a lot of heads nodding. I think we need to explore the idea of updated facilities.”

She agreed that the existing facilities, although in need of improvement, can still serve a purpose.

“For a building as old as it is, it’s still in good shape,” she said. “It’s got a lot of future left.”

Vasquez wouldn’t offer a timeline for completion, but she said the project deserves to be an issue of high concern for the Regents.

“We’re simply at the starting gate,” she said, “but action is necessary.”