Relics found at former Sacred Hill site before MTR's decision to build
Report identified former Sacred Hill site as having 'archaeological potential' seven months before MTR decided to build a station there
An official report completed in 2008 for the development of Kai Tak identified the area north of where Sacred Hill once stood as having "high archaeological potential" - just seven months before the MTR Corporation announced it would build a station there.
Work on the To Kwa Wan station of the Sha Tin-Central Link has recently been affected by large-scale historic discoveries, but the emergence of the 2008 report suggests such discoveries could have been foreseen.
The report by the Civil Engineering and Development Department was completed in October 2008, after an archaeological excavation exercise which took place between March and June to ascertain the heritage value of the wider Kai Tak area before development.
The report said the excavation "produced evidence for what may well prove (with further research) to be a regionally important site of Song/Yuan dynasty date - the area immediately to the north of the former Sacred Hill has been proven to be of high archaeological potential".
This conclusion was based on Southern Song or Yuan dynasty ceramics dug from a trench northwest of the current excavation site. The paper recommended further study to determine the full extent of the relics.
Despite the discoveries, the MTR Corporation announced in May 2009 the To Kwa Wan station would be built on the site. Previously, it had planned to build the station near the Hong Kong Society for the Blind's workshop, less than a kilometre away.
It said the new location could better serve residents because it was closer to Kowloon City.
