Osgoode (TTC) - History and Construction

History and Construction

Osgoode is a centre platform station, constructed using the cut-and-cover method.

When Osgoode Station was built, some utility lines were relocated away from the station to allow for a future "Lower Osgoode" station on the projected but never-built Queen Street subway, but unlike at Lower Queen, no actual construction took place. When it opened, Osgoode, like St. Andrew Station, boasted Vitrolite tiles on its walls. Cracks resulting from the high water table at the station forced the TTC to cover over most of these tiles in the 1970s with vertical panels along the outer walls of the tracks and ceramic tiles on the platform walls.

• Wall treatments

• Tiles on platform walls

• Clad wall on outside of the tracks

Entrances were all built as open stairwells, with the panel above the lintel emblazoned with the scales of justice, which referenced the Superior Court of Justice at Osgoode Hall. Subsequent refurbishment resulted in a generic TTC style replacing the unique symbolism. In 2006 a new entrance, with elevator access to the concourse level, was integrated into the construction of the Four Seasons Centre, at the southeast corner of Queen and University. Along with an elevator to the platform level within the fare paid area, this makes the station fully accessible. Current plans call for Diamond and Schmitt Architects, who were responsible for the opera house, to design complementary covered entrances at the other three corners of the intersection.

• Entrances

• Original design of entrance stairwell

• Current stairs with generic TTC signage

• Four Seasons Centre subway entrance

Unspecified plans also call for the upgrade of the platform level, as part of a program to modernize several older stations.