The building was commissioned by members of the local mechanics institute which had been formed as the Otley Useful Instruction Society in 1835.^[2] Its members, who included the magistrate, John Peele Clapham, initially met in a school room attached to the Salem Chapel in Bridge Street before moving to the Wesleyan Chapel in Nelson Street the following year.^[2] In the 1860s the members decided to erect a dedicated building for the mechanics institute to promote adult education in the town.^[2]

The foundation stone for new building was laid by a local philanthropist, Mrs Emma Dawson, of Weston Hall on 19 June 1868.^[2] It was designed by Charles Fowler of Leeds in the Italianate style, built in ashlar stone and was officially opened on 31 October 1871.^[3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Cross Green; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured, on the ground floor, a portico with two pairs of Tuscan order columns supporting an entablature and, on the first floor, a stone balcony and a French door flanked by Corinthian order pilasters.^[1] The other bays were fenestrated by sash windows on the ground floor and round headed windows on the first floor.^[1] At roof level, there was an entablature, a cornice supported by brackets and a balustrade.^[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the concert hall on the first floor and the lecture theatre on the ground floor.^[2] The building became the main forum for public events in the town with lectures, theatrical performances and concerts all being held there.^[2]

Following significant population growth, largely associated with the status of Otley as a market town, the area became an urban district in 1894.^[4] Although, the mechanics institute was extended to the rear in 1895,^[5] the council established offices for council officers and their departments in North Parade.^[6] The council eventually took ownership of the former mechanics institute, which it received as a gift for the benefit of the community, in 1957.^[7]

The Otley Museum, which was established in 1961 with the objective of assembling a collection of objects depicting the history of the town, subsequently moved into the building.^[8] Following local government re-organisation in 1974, the building was transferred to the ownership of Leeds City Council^[9] and the building subsequently became the offices and meeting place of Otley Town Council which was formed in the mid-1970s.^[10] After the city council decided to redevelop the building, the town council was asked to relocate and the museum had to close in December 2010.^[11] The city council went on to sell the building to a developer in December 2020.^[12]