Osgoode Station
History and construction
The station has an island platform and was constructed using the cut-and-cover method. There is a pocket track at the south end of the station which allows a southbound train to change direction.
When Osgoode 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 slats along the outer walls on the far side of the tracks and ceramic tiles on structural elements on the platform itself. In 2016, the slats on the outer walls were replaced by off-white panels, evoking the original design.
Entrances to the station were all built as open stairways from the sidewalk, 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 made the station fully accessible as of 2007. Plans from 2008 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.