In late May 1950, the Belgian oil company Petrofina opened a Canadian subsidiary, Canadian Fina Oil Limited, in Calgary. In 1953, Petrofina created another Canadian subsidiary, Canadian Petrofina Limited, for financing and marketing in Eastern Canada.
On July 15, 1959, Petrofina announced plans to construct the building, a 20-story tower, with financing of $5 million having been secured.[1] It was planned to be "one of the finest buildings on the North American continent."[1] Construction of the Petrofina Building began with a sod-turning ceremony on August 3, 1959. The $4.5 million project was designed by the architectural firm Rule Wynn and Rule in the Art Moderne style, featuring elements like chevron stone panels between windows, verde issorie marble and red sienna granite cladding on the ground floor, and a set-back executive penthouse with an observation gallery and deck. The design incorporated a folded-plate porte cochère at the entrance, which was later removed. The building was completed in 1960 and served as the Calgary headquarters for Canadian Fina Oil Limited. Other tenants included various oil companies, oilfield services, and the Belgian Consulate.[2]
The Petrofina Building's construction was one of the key structures built during Calgary's 1958-1960 boom along with Elveden House and a major Firestone plant.[3]
The tower continued to be used by Petrofina Canada until following the acquisition of Petrofina by Petro-Canada, the Canadian government-owned oil company, on February 2, 1981.[4] In 1993, Occidental Petroleum's Canadian unit, CanadianOxy, was reported to have installed a laser-based communication system which 4mbps of data to be transferred between its Petrofina office and a nearby office.[5] It continued to be an office tower until it began experiencing high vacancy rates in the early 2000.[6]