Parents can look for their child walking to class on the Quad. Students can watch the lines at Thorne Dining Hall to wait until the lunch or dinner rush has abated. And alumni can scan the treetops from Coles Tower to check the changing foliage.

Bowdoin is replacing its three old webcams with cameras that produce clear, sharp, colorful footage. One camera is installed in Hubbard Hall, overlooking the southern end of the Quad. One is tucked into a corner of Thorne Dining Hall. And the third, which is being installed currently, is on top of Coles Tower. This last camera can be operated remotely, so viewers visiting the webcam site — bowdoin.edu/webcams — can zoom and scan the area around the tower.

David Francis, senior interactive developer, helped work on the new web-camera system, which was set up by Bowdoin’s Associate Telecom and Networking Engineer Brian Horne and Network Technician Nick Schroeder.

Francis says the cameras have maintained their popularity ever since the first one was put up in 2001. He recalled several years ago how a devoted Bowdoin dad in Wisconsin would email Francis the minute he noticed one of the webcams was down. Through these communications, Francis and the father struck up a kind of friendship, sharing information about the man’s daughter, the weather, Bowdoin news, and so on. Students also sometimes coordinate with their parents to wave hello at prearranged times, Francis said.

You can check out the webcams here.