The building previously held the library but after remedial work was required on the building, the library moved to another building nearby.
After completion of the works, the Children's Specialist Services, which used to be spread over a number of different offices moved into this building allowing the council to house the department more efficiently on one site.
To commemorate the re-organisation of the department this art work was commissioned from local sculptor Craig Dyson.
"Bradford's biggest baby is set to be unveiled to the public.
Local sculptor Craig Dyson has spent the last twelve months crafting a striking piece of work based around the ambition of youth, in the form of a 9ft tall baby.
The grand unveiling is set to take place outside McMillan Tower in Bradford on Saturday 21st May at 2pm.
This will be a fantastic opportunity for people to see the sculpture up close, where they will be able to notice that the majority of the figure is made up of 100's of original Victorian weaving loom components. Engineering in this era focused on beauty as much as functionality, so the detail in every cog used is stunning.
Sculpting using the Victorian metal was described as "challenging at times" by Craig, but now that the baby is nearing completion he is excited for the public to engage with it and decide what they would like it to mean to them.
Craig said:
'With it's very fabric harking back to the Victorian era, the sculpture is a celebration of Bradford's fine history, however the form of a baby taking it's first steps encourages the viewer to be forward thinking and ambitious. Infants have big bold dreams and this is something that should never be discouraged.'"
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The statue has turned out be rather controversial...
"THE Baby of the North has had something of a premature delivery, it has emerged, after its covering was removed before any official unveiling ceremony.
The new £15,000 sculpture for Bradford city centre has been placed outside the former central library, now the council offices Margaret McMillan Tower.
An official unveiling had been due to take place last Saturday, but the council postponed the event indefinitely.
Today, the sheeting covering the sculpture was removed with no fanfare but a spokesman for Bradford Council declined to explain what had happened.
The sculptor, Haworth-based Craig Dyson, said as far as he was aware, some kind of unveiling ceremony was still expected to take place at some point.
The commissioning of the sculpture - funded jointly by the council and government - had raised eyebrows, with some politicians questioning the authority’s spending priorities."
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