MTR expansion plans could impact HKCEC Phase III options

Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Corporation has unveiled details of plans to build a new station in Wan Chai which will will be named, Exhibition Station. That is good news for the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) as the project will improve the venue's connectivity.

It is also an important development as the South China Morning Post reports that the construction of the station will require the Wan Chai Sports Grounds to be demolished. The public grounds include the Harbour Road Sports Centre and the Wan Chai Swimming Pool.

"Sports facilities on the Wan Chai waterfront will have to be demolished to make way for the Sha Tin to Central link, the largest of four domestic railway projects now underway or on which work will start soon.

This emerged yesterday as the MTR Corporation disclosed further details of the HK$60 billion project. The Harbour Road Sports Centre and the Wan Chai Swimming Pool - scene of most inter-school competitions - would be torn down to allow for station-related construction, the link's design manager, Clement Ngai Yum-keung, said.

But the corporation pledged that new facilities to replace them would be built nearby before demolition."

This is a noteworthy development for Hong Kong's exhibition industry as the Wan Chai Sports Grounds have been considered as a possible site for the Phase III expansion of the HKCEC. It is not clear from the MTR's plan if the site of the Sports Grounds will still be required after the construction work is complete. This MTR drawing provided in the company's press release seems to suggest that it would not need that site after construction is completed.

If not, that could make it easier for the HKCEC to argue that the venue could put the site to good use as part of its Phase III expansion. If the former site of the Sports Ground is used as part of Exhibition Station, that will eliminate one of the most logical options for the HKCEC Phase III.