(Photo above: screenshot of Whitewater Park project courtesy of eyeonbend)
Live streaming webcams offer unique snapshot of day in life of city.
A panoramic bird’s eye view of Bend vistas streaming live to a watching world, and now also offering the ability to monitor two iconic flagship park district projects taking shape on the city’s Westside, is just a smartphone tap away.
Since launching some six years ago, eyeonbend.com has utilized perches in the Old Mill District and atop some of downtown’s tallest buildings to provide unique perspectives on the urban-environmental interface via Oregon’s only free public high-definition webcams.
And the viewing screen has expanded with newer installations covering the Deschutes River and its environs, with particular interest garnered over the ability to observe the evolution of Bend Park & Recreation District (BPRD’s) Whitewater Park (formerly Colorado Dam Safe Passage) and Simpson Avenue Pavilion projects.
Eyeonbend includes north and south views of downtown Bend and a stellar view west toward the Cascade Mountains. Another vantage point offers an east view over the Old Mill District and Pilot Butte, together providing a “look out your window” perspective on activities and weather around Bend. Viewers can choose to watch the sunrise or sunset, check the weather or road conditions, or peek in on downtown and Old Mill district events live.
The venture is the initiative of local information technology consultant Michael Kellogg, who initially hit on the idea after monitoring the progress of Central Oregon construction projects for out-of-town clients utilizing time lapse photography.
As a spin-off idea he switched gears to capture a sequence of the wider horizon and Cascade Mountain Range images and the end result was a rich cinematic-style product.
Kellogg said: “The whole thing started with a time-lapse project monitoring construction progress of the Oxford Hotel – which people may remember for the huge crane which became a fixture of the City’s downtown landscape for a while – using a camera sited on top of the five-storey Franklin Crossing building downtown.
“We happened to turn the camera to point at the mountains and saw our dramatic skyline captured and how over time streaming views gave a real feel for the changing weather patterns and so on.
“This morphed into the eyeonbend idea, which began with views of downtown and expanded to the Old Mill area taking in views of the smokestacks and amphitheater area. Now we have five cameras, with the newest ones trained on the BPRD Colorado Dam and Simpson Pavilion projects which has captured a lot of interest throughout the community.”
Regional television viewers may already be familiar with eyeonbend’s take on Bend, as its iconic views have served as a backdrop for local news and weather alert segments, with time lapse techniques giving a vivid representation of patterns.
Kellogg said his cameras stream live 24 hours a day and he compiles daily time lapse videos to stay current. Visitors to eyeonbend.com can choose to view live depictions of Bend, the latest full day exposures, from sunrise to sunset – with photos snapped every 30 seconds – or captivating highlights from the last few days.
The site is also accessible via smartphone, and includes a link to archives of pictures and videos illustrating “Bend in a Day” backed by mostly original acoustic soundtracks provided by Kellogg, who is also an accomplished musician.
He added: “We are providing something that no one else is offering right now in not only archiving daily patterns to tell the weather story in Bend, but also giving a look into the secret life of the city itself 24 hours a day.
“The view from above the tallest building downtown gives us and our viewers a unique vantage point to see how nature and the city co-exist and we are excited to be bringing an even wider perspective to the public with the additional webcams broadening the scope toward the Deschutes River and the park projects which will become prized amenities for the town.
“We are seeing hits from people monitoring the happenings in Bend from all over the world, whether they are contemplating a visit, are former residents or just savoring the flavor of our special part of the environment. Our time lapse video of the Two Bulls fire went viral and eyeonbend cameras even have a Facebook page now.
“We get emails from people that live out of state or are thinking of moving to Bend, and its amazing to think that we have up to 20,000 views a month. We have a lot of loyal visitors from Oregon, California and Washington but also from every state and 95 different countries, including military personnel stationed overseas and a large contingency in Japan, Europe and New Zealand!”
Kellogg added that eyeonbend has amassed archives featuring hundreds of videos and thousands of pictures that could be accessed by interested parties, including perhaps those who want a souvenir of a day that coincided with memorable experiences in and around the city.
The “Bend in a Day” videos capture the flow of the city’s life through changing shadows, patterns of moving traffic and pedestrians, the buffeting of winds on the landscape and the dance of clouds and rainfall. Time lapse techniques also offer a glimpse into the continual processes of snow and water evaporation as part of the reflection on the region’s dynamic weather patterns.
“We are using remote controlled cameras that broadcast a live video stream over the internet to multiple viewers at the same time and take still pictures to be assembled into movies later,” said Kellogg.
“The cameras can move through a full panorama of 360 degrees and are able to capture low light events like the moon setting over the Cascades and views of the busy streets after dark.
“Eyeonbend features new time lapse videos daily. Each camera is set to take a picture every thirty seconds from sunrise to sunset.
“The cameras take over 4,000 still pictures a day and we use these pictures to make daily time lapse movies lasting about 90 seconds. These videos are extraordinary because time lapse photography reveals nature and the flow of the life in the city not seen any other way. You can also browse through photographs and watch feature videos of special events, rainbows, full moons, lunar eclipses and more, all set to music.
“Our vision is to create a utility where everyone can access live views of Bend 24 hrs a day; to expose the flow of life in Bend and feature nature’s otherwise invisible beauty.
“We also have the ability to document and archive Bend in daily time-lapse videos and to help promote Bend as a town of opportunities, resources and possibilities, and we strive to build on eyeonbend.com’s vision as an informative center regarding events in Bend and in providing live coverage of daily happenings downtown and beyond.”
WHITEWATER PARK & SIMPSON PAVILION PROJECTS
The Whitewater Park and Simpson Pavilion projects which eyeonbend.com features via live webcams are being primarily funded from the BPRD $29 million bond approved by voters in 2012.
The Bend Whitewater Park project will renovate the Colorado Dam to create three channels downstream–a safe channel for paddle boarders and other floaters, a whitewater play area and a natural river area to enhance habitat. The project also includes replacing the existing bike/pedestrian bridge that connects McKay Park to Miller’s Landing Park.
River floating began in earnest in Bend when Farewell Bend Park opened access to the calm moving portion of the Deschutes River above the Colorado Street Dam in 2005. Since that time, there have been several accidents and one death at the dam. Once the safe passage channel is complete, river users will be able to travel through the dam without having to portage.
The project is primarily funded by the 2012 Bond Measure and has a budget of over $9,600,000. The Bend Paddle Trail Alliance is a sponsor on this project and has committed over one million dollars in fundraising. The project is anticipated to be completed by fall this year.
McKay Park, located directly adjacent to the Bend Whitewater Park, will also be upgraded to support activities associated with the project including accessible trails, a larger beach, restrooms, changing rooms, an observation deck and new pavilion. Construction of McKay Park will be completed in late 2016.
Additionally, the District is designing a pedestrian undercrossing under Colorado Avenue to improve accessibility along the Deschutes River Trail, adjacent to the Whitewater Park project. Construction of the undercrossing is anticipated to begin in late 2015.
Currently construction of stage two (the whitewater channel) is nearing completion and work has begun on the safe passage channel. The pneumatic bladder system has been installed on the wave blocks within the whitewater channel while work also continues on the new pedestrian bridge. Closures and detours will be in place around the area until 2016.
On a parallel track, the master plan for the 11 acres at the Simpson Avenue property includes construction of a covered, multi-purpose, recreation pavilion including a seasonal ice facility, together with a support building with lobby, customer service area, restrooms and changing rooms. Total estimated budget is around $11,350,000.
Covering two to three acres including parking, the pavilion will host a variety of recreational activities, community events and sports including ice sports such as skating and hockey, pickleball, basketball, volleyball, tennis and badminton.
The current stage of construction includes the structural steel for the support building nearing completion, as well as the metal stud framing. Structural steel trusses and decking for the pavilion and support building are currently being erected. The project is expected to be complete by the end of this year.
The pavilion is composed of two parts: The first being an inclined (shed) roof approximately 120 wide by 240 feet long composed of steel trusses enclosed in a wood envelope. The wood roof structure is covered with a standard membrane roof (TPO – Thermoplastic PolyOlefin) used throughout Oregon and the US.
The second part of the structure includes a continuous series of support structures tucked under the inclined roof. These structures will house multi-purpose rooms, office space, restrooms, changing facilities, equipment concessions, storage and mechanical and electrical rooms. They will be constructed with conventional materials common to Central Oregon.
The pavilion was originally slated to feature a visually striking suspended tension roof but the only exponent capable of tackling such a project was a company out of British Columbia that would have basically applied specialized bridge technology. BPRD Landscape Architect for the project Jim Figurski said in the final analysis that approach proved too expensive and the design was simplified and modified.
He added: “We switched to a fairly straightforward sloping shed roof style which is actually much more functional and practical.
“The hanging roof concept also could not have realistically been able to accommodate necessary elements such as attachment of fire sprinklers. The revised version has cleaner lines and a simpler shape with the ability to have utilities hidden within the roof itself without clutter.
“We are also using a transparent space-age plastic, which is a very resilient and self-cleaning material, to cover the west and south sides of the pavilion, with the other sides being open.
“The fabric will be tensioned and reach from 10 feet off the floor elevations to within eight feet of the ceiling This will have the effect of reducing solar gain and protecting the seasonal ice sheet as well as blocking wind and rain.
“We are looking at a completion date of late November, hopefully in time for the holiday season.”
The west side of the pavilion is also designed to feature an open courtyard and fire pits area with seating walls and a grass expanse that could potentially also host community events.
For information on BPRD projects, see website www.bendparksandrec.org. Visit www.bendpaddletrailalliance.org for more information on how to support that organization’s efforts.
www.eyeonbend.com
eyeonbend@gmail.com
541-323-2743
