Due to the relatively long period allocated for the excavation, it was possible to involved several hundred members of the public, including volunteers, pupils, church members, and Friends of the Museum. It is estimated that approximately 300,000 artifacts weighing approximately 1 ton were recovered from 636 cubic meters of soil. This quantity was equal to all artifacts found in all previous excavations in Singapore.
As part of the project, signs were set up along the sidewalk by North Bridge Road, bordering the site. Passersby could thus be made aware of what was going on. The cathedral allowed American Express to put their logo on the signs. In November 2003 a display was set up at the Cathedral when a ceremony was held to break ground for the new auditorium. When the construction was completed, a permanent exhibition of artifacts from the site was installed above-ground structure next to the former excavation site, bordering North Bridge Road and the entrance to the MRT station. This exhibition was refreshed periodically. In 2021 some artifacts were handed over to the Cathedral for display in a planned Heritage Centre.
Pupils from numerous educational institutions took part in the excavation and the sifting of soil. These include:
- Anglo Chinese Junior College
- Anglo Chinese School (Independent)
- Chinese High School
- CHIJ Primary (Kellock)
- Dunearn Secondary
- National Junior College
- National University of Singapore
- Pasir Ris High
- Queensway Secondary
- St.Andrew's Junior College
- St.Andrew's Secondary
- Yio Chu Kang Secondary
- Tanjong Katong Girls School
- Temasek Polytechnic-British Petroleum Mentoring Program, involving Tampines area neighbourhood schools
A series of archaeology workshops was conducted in collaboration with the Singapore History Museum, some for adults, some for children, and some under the National Library Board Aspiration Pathfinder Program. Ms. Cheryl-Ann Low, then curator of the Singapore History Museum, and Mr. Ng Ching Huei, then a Research Officer at that museum, performed important duties to link the project with the National Heritage Board, both for the excavation and for the workshops. Other staff included a visiting fellow in the Southeast Asian Studies Programme at NUS (Dr. D. Kyle Latinis), a doctoral candidate at the University of Hawaii and former Singapore History Museum curator (Shah Alam Mohd. Zaini); research assistants hired with the ARI grant (Andrew Cowan, Roeland Stulemeijer, Lim Chen Sien), and two NUS student assistants (Mok Meifeng and Teo Eik Ruey).
The project was publicized by the Straits Times, Channel News Asia, Channel U, Disney Channel, and Mediacorp Radio.