This Day in History (1974): Ready for Occupancy

From the March 6, 1974 edition of The Arabian Sun

Within the next two weeks, approximately 500 Aramcons will be moving their offices into the Administration Building East, the newest addition to the Aramco Administration Building complex.

Like earlier portions of the building, the new addition is constructed of reinforced concrete and faced with concrete brick.

It was built by Kettaneh Brothers of Beirut through the agents Binzagr and Brothers of Dammam.

In basic design, this new addition is very like the Administration Building North, which it adjoins. There are differences, however.

The courtyard in the new building is considerably larger, and the floor space is smaller -- 78,000 square feet as opposed to 110,000 square feet in the Administration Building North, a factor accounted for by the U-shape of the new addition, which eliminates one entire wing of potential office space.

Inside too, the new addition resembles the rest of the building, with reinforced concrete floors and a double entrance stairway; but the decor is different with pale yellow walls instead of tan ones, and light green marble vinyl floor tile instead of gray.

Other innovations in the new building include white acoustic tile soundproof ceilings and double lighting fixtures.

As in the rest of the building, offices will be separated by insulated metal partitions. All told, there will be 29 sections of 11 departments housed in the new addition, with three departments having offices on more than one floor.

The third floor will house the next executive suite, as well as the Auditing, Treasurer's, Purchasing, and Organization and Industrial Engineering Departments. A new conference room will also be located on the third floor.

Once the move into the Administration Building East is complete, the vacated offices in the Administration Building North will be renovated as required.

Also on this date

2018 — Forbes names Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person with a net worth of $112 billion

1992 — The Michelangelo computer virus spreads through computers

1987 — The British ferry MS "Herald of Free Enterprise" capsizes in about 90 seconds, killing 193

1975 — The Zapruder film of the assassination of John F. Kennedy is shown to a national TV audience for the first time

1967 — Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to the U.S.

1964 — Constantine II becomes the last King of Greece

1964 — Cassius Clay officially becomes Muhammad Ali

1957 — Ghana becomes the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence from the British

1912 — Italy becomes the first country to use airships in war as two dirigibles drop bombs from an altitude of 6,000 feet on Turkish troops at Janzur

1899 — Bayer registers "Aspirin" as a trademark

1869 — The first periodic table is presented by Dmitri Mendeleev to the Russian Chemical Society

1521 — Ferdinand Magellan arrives in Guam