On most days, Art Schammel and his puppy Colie hop in his red truck for a morning drive. By around 8:30, they’re parked across the street from the new jail and justice center, window down and radio playing softly, here to watch the show.

The 78-year-old retiree lives east of Brownsdale and said he drives to the construction site five to six times a week. Schammel is probably the most dedicated spectator around, but it’s not uncommon to see a person here or there stopped to watch the center go up, and two webcams aimed at the site have been relatively popular in recent months as well.

Schammel said he comes to watch because he likes to see tax dollars at work.

“I’m just interested in it,” he said. “I’m paying big taxes on it.”

For others who can’t make regular stops, two online options are available.

The Austin Daily Herald’s webcam, positioned on the building’s roof, has been giving a live, bird’s eye view of the project since it started.

To date, the camera has received a little more than 1,700 views. During the day, about 10 viewers can be found watching at once, although there have been times with many more tuning in.

Knutson Construction also has a webcam of the work they’ve been doing.

Instead of streaming live video, the Knutson camera updates roughly every 15 minutes with a new picture. Viewers can go back in 15-minute blocks, click on a calendar and view progress by day, or watch a time lapse of the project to date.

John Pristash, the project manager, said the camera is useful in a number of ways. For one, he said business owners and other interested citizens like to follow along with what’s going on in their community when they can’t actually make it to the site.

“It’s nice for them to just pop up a shot of construction on their computer,” Pristash said.

The construction crew, Pristash included, also likes to keep tabs on the camera. Not only can it provide neat historical snapshots of the work they’ve done, the camera also could help in the case of trespassing or some other type of security problem. If the crew did see something strange, the camera’s zoom function would allow them to focus in and possibly nab a license plate number or other piece of evidence.

Pristash said the camera is more service than advertisement, which is why Knutson hasn’t really promoted it and doesn’t keep statistics on how many eyeballs see it. He did say, however, that people tend to just naturally be drawn to construction projects.

“I think everybody has a fascination with construction,” he said. “You take nothing and turn it into something. It has an innate quality to it.”

Mike Clark certainly has been watching. Clark is the project manager for KKE Architects.

“I look at it every day,” he said. “It’s one of the ways I’m judging progress.”

Clark said providing webcam coverage is something that more and more construction companies are doing, from projects like the new Twins ballpark to the Mower County Jail and Justice Center, because people want to stay in the loop.

Pristash said Knutson puts them on most of their big projects.

“It’s just kind of a neat thing,” he said. “It gives you a real-time snapshot.”

While that may be true, expect Art Schammel to keep going for the most real of views, at about 8:30 every morning.