During the planning stages for Line 5 Eglinton, the station was given the working name "Don Mills". On November 23, 2015, a report to the TTC Board recommended giving a unique name to each station in the subway system (including Line 5 Eglinton).[3] Thus, it was given its current name to both be more descriptive of the nearby Ontario Science Centre (in the same vein as Museum station), and to avoid confusion with the pre-existing Don Mills station on Line 4 Sheppard.
Bus terminal of Science Centre Station under construction in January 2024
On April 10, 2019, the Ontario government announced that Science Centre station would be the northern terminus for the proposed Ontario Line,[4] construction of which began in March 2022.[5]
The station may be renamed, as on April 18, 2023, the Ontario provincial government announced plans to move its namesake to Ontario Place (near the other terminus of the Ontario Line). When asked about the name of Science Centre station, government House leader Paul Calandra said the station would be renamed but did not comment on what the new name might be.[6]
Description
This station's main entrance will be built adjacent to the Ontario Science Centre at the southwest corner of the intersection with Don Mills Road.[7] A secondary entrance will be on the opposite northeast corner, with a new bus terminal stretching beyond that to Gervais Drive. The TTC bus terminal will have seven bus bays as well as on-street bus connections. An underground, accessible passage will link the bus terminal to the LRT concourse level, which will have retail spaces. The station will provide 30 outdoor and 30 indoor bicycle parking spaces.[1]
The underground Science Centre station was built using cut-and-cover method. The station is between two surface sections of the line. To travel under Don Mills Road, the line dips underground, passes through the station under the middle of Eglinton Avenue and re-emerges to the surface at the other side.[8] To the west of Science Centre station, there is a facing-point crossover just beyond the ramp descending to the station's west portal. To the east of the station, there is a double crossover on the ramp descending to the station's east portal.[9]
As part of a program to install artworks at major interchange stations along Line 5 Eglinton, Science Centre Station will feature an artwork titled Total Lunar Eclipse by British-American artist Sarah Morris. The artwork is a mural consisting of porcelain tiles that were silkscreened by hand. According to the artist, the artwork is a "wall painting" that "invites reflection on concepts of light, scale and motion through space".[10]
The station's main entrance has louvres in the glass panels above the doors. Metrolinx predicts that the louvres "will be a well-known and a distinctive part of the transit destination's look".[11]
Science Centre is one of the Crosstown stations that has been reported to have most excited developers.[12] On April 3, 2017, Urban Toronto reported that the City's planning department's initiative for intersection had been named "Don Mills Crossing", while it would be accompanied by a plan for nearby properties, in 2018.
"Line 5 Eglinton Station Names"(PDF). Board Presentation. Toronto Transit Commission. November 23, 2015. Archived from the original(PDF) on November 26, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2017. TTC staff evaluated the initial report and the proposed names and provided feedback and recommendations. A primary TTC concern was to avoid replication and redundancy with existing TTC station names. The proposed names are unique and are not likely to be confused with existing station names.
Bateman, Chris (August 6, 2014). "Crosstown LRT spurs massive redevelopment proposal". blogTO. Retrieved January 12, 2017. An underground stop on the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT is due to be built on the southwest corner of Eglinton and Don Mills
Julian Mirabelli (April 3, 2017). "Big Plans in Store for the Transformation of Don Mills & Eglinton". Urban Toronto. Retrieved April 4, 2017. First, City Planning is undertaking a comprehensive planning study of the area they have named Don Mills Crossing, encompassing the four corners of the intersection while considering the neighbourhoods beyond, for which a Secondary Plan will be introduced in 2018.
