The park occupies 8.05 hectares (19.89 acres) of land, and is managed by Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Most of the land that the park occupies was reclaimed from Tide Cove during the construction of the Sha Tin New Town, though some of the land existed beforehand and was previously occupied by the Sha Tin Airfield, a military air base.

While the park was under construction, a "sneak preview" was provided to the public as it was temporarily opened from 14 to 17 March 1987 for the Hong Kong Flower Show.

Shortly following the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China erected a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue in Sha Tin Central Park, on a temporary basis, with the approval of the council.

[4] In 1997, the pro-Beijing camp within the council voted down another application by the alliance to temporarily exhibit the Pillar of Shame statue in the park on the anniversary of the massacre.