We could have made a statement on such a prized waterfront location – property developers were circling like voracious hyenas to gorge on the land for housing – but instead we have this to whet our appetite:

Are you wowed? On closer inspection, the overview of the park is hardly jaw-dropping, but maybe the main stadium has inner surprises that will be revealed when Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her gang stand on the site and break ground later this month. Don’t hold your breath.

Under the design, build and operate (DBO) model, the government picks up the HK$30 billion construction cost, while the newly formed Kai Tak Sports Park Limited will cover operating costs. It will also be required to pay the government 3 per cent of its gross annual income along with an extra HK$1.72 billion (US$220 million) over the 25 years of the contract.

Two consortiums pulled out in the bidding process, leaving New World and Guangzhou R&F to fight it out. New World followed the government’s Reference Design almost to the letter, while Guangzhou R&F Properties took a chance on its retractable natural grass pitch.

We believe it piqued the government’s interest – hopefully they even stopped to explore the possibilities – but it was outside the Reference Design and we all know what that means in the machinations of our government. Rejection.

For someone who just had eight months’ work consigned to a digital grave, R&F managing editor Michael Lee appeared to be taking it remarkably well.

There was no bitterness, just frustration at the processes and that the public will never see their creation.

Lee was brought up in Australia so was immersed in sport, is active in the Hong Kong sports scene and hoped that the success in their model was a park for all.

How could the government not be impressed by this sports lover with not only his company’s skin in the game, but his own? Simple, they never saw him until giving him the “thanks, but no thanks”.

Here we have one of the biggest projects in Hong Kong and you don’t get to sell it in person. Just send over a truckload of documents to the Home Affairs Bureau and let some faceless government experts judge it on the black and white and whether all the boxes are ticked.

“The biggest shame was not being able to ‘sell’ the idea and the vision,” said another key player in Lee’s team. “The bidding process was so sterile.

“Kai Tak is about sport, participation, passion and engagement. Everyone is capable of designing, building and operating a stadium. What was missing was the X factor, the big idea. There was never an opportunity to sell the wow to the civil servants.”

Wow is not in a civil servant’s wheelhouse, especially without guarantees. And there was no guarantee a natural grass pitch sliding into an outdoor amphitheatre arena to host events would work.

“Conceptually, it’s great,” said another insider, but there was no evidence it would work, despite a handful of stadiums around the world featuring pitches that slide out to bathe in sunlight.

Both consortiums’ designs for their main stadium feature a glazed facade above the South Stand – yes, there is a reincarnation for Sevens lovers, but they may have to take residence in the bigger North Stand – looking out on to the harbour with expansive podiums for fans to mingle, admire the view, while filling the park’s coffers thanks to food and beverage consumption.

And that retail component underpins the park’s success, with New World probably winning that round as well. It’s tentacles are everywhere in Hong Kong.

It also likely scored highly in the operate part as its partner SMG is a world leader in managing multiple stadiums, arenas and other venues arounds the world so it has an impressive CV.

“The right team won,” said an impartial insider.

That maybe so when singing the government’s tune, but some of us like different music.