[1] The first municipal building in Kirkwall was the old town hall in the grounds of the St Magnus Cathedral which was erected with a grant from James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton in 1745.

[2] However, by the early 1880s, the building was very dilapidated, and the burgh council acquired a site on the west side of Broad Street which was occupied by the Commercial Hotel.

[4] It was designed by a local architect, Thomas Smith Peace, in the Scottish baronial style, built in coursed rubble masonry and was completed in 1886.

The second bay on the left, which was slightly projected forward, featured a doorway in the form of an aedicula flanked by fluted columns supporting two statues and an entablature inscribed with the words "Town Hall" and the year, "1884".

[17] The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay attended a reception in the town hall to meet owners of businesses supported by The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust in June 2009,[18] and Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway had lunch with council leaders in the town hall in June 2017.