North York Centre (TTC)

North York Centre
File:North York Centre TTC DWA in gap.JPG
Location	5102 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates
Platforms	side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	underground
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	18 June 1987 (1987-06-18)
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	24,190
Rank	29 of 69
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station Sheppard–Yonge toward Downsview Yonge–University Finch Terminus

North York Centre is a subway station on the Yonge–University line in Toronto, Canada. The station is located under Yonge Street, where it is intersected by Park Home Avenue and Empress Avenue. This is within North York Centre, a high density area of the Willowdale neighbourhood. This community formerly consisted of single family homes and small businesses, and the coming of the subway has served as a stimulus for high-rise residential and commercial development.

History

North York Centre opened in 1987 in what was then the City of North York as a single station addition to the Yonge-University line.

This station was added by excavating alongside the existing tracks, on a level section of route provided for this purpose when the line was built. The view across the tracks between platforms is not as open as most stations, as the solid concrete wall had to retain its load-bearing strength, and smaller openings were cut.

In late 2007 the TTC began work to make the station accessible to those with limited mobility, and in November 2009 the work was completed. Two elevators were installed to take passengers from mezzanine level to the subway platforms. Persons in wheelchairs or with other mobility restrictions are now able to enter from street level by way of existing facilities in the major buildings on both sides of the station.

Public art

Artwork in the station consists of North York Heritage Murals by North York artists Nicholas and Susana Graven, located at the platform level. The two murals, each made of over 5000 pieces of glazed ceramic tiles using a process invented by Artessa Studios of North York, depict scenes of North York in the 19th century in an abstract way and are titled:

• Top of the North Hill—1850s on the northbound platform (surtitled with the historic place names “Don Mills, Flynntown, L'Amoreaux, Lansing, Milneford, Newtonbrook, Oriole, O’Sullivan’s Corners, Willowdale”), and
• Traffic at Yonge and Sheppard—1860s on the southbound platform (surtitled with the historic place names “Downsview, Dublin, Eglinton, Elia, Emery, Fairbank, Fisherville, Humber Summit, Kaiserville, York Mills, Weston”).

The historic place names shown above each of the murals are names of historic communities near an imaginary line from the northwest to the southeast through the historic Lansing.

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Top of the North Hill—1850s

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Traffic at Yonge and Sheppard—1860s

Nearby landmarks

File:DowntownNorthYork20050903.jpg

Yonge Street in 2005, looking north toward the Empress Ave intersection

Direct underground level connection from the station are: on the east side with the Empress Walk shopping, entertainment and residential complex; and on the west side with City Centre, which includes commercial office and retail space as well as a cluster of City of Toronto facilities that include Mel Lastman Square, North York Civic Centre, North York Central Library and Douglas Snow Aquatic Centre.

Other nearby landmarks include Earl Haig Secondary School, Gibson House, Toronto Centre for the Arts and York Cemetery.

Surface connections

Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

• 97B/C/F Yonge - board on Yonge Street, transfer required

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• North York Centre Station at the Toronto Transit Commission
• Transit Toronto—North York Centre Station has a detailed history and photos of the station