George,

The statue honors a U.Va. alumnus, James Rogers McConnell, who was an early pilot killed in France in World War I. It's often called the "birdman" statue by students; also known as the aviator or Icarus. It was recently moved to a temporary location because of the library construction project. See
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/mcconnell/intro.html for more information on McConnell; look in the Monuments & Memorials section for details about the statue.

You were probably looking at the webcam mounted on Alderman Library. It's to let would-be sidewalk superintendents keep up with progress at the underground building site. They recently started work on the building itself (or at least the foundation), after several months of excavating dirt & rocks and putting up retaining walls. Take a look at http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/newlib/webcam.html

Louise Dudley (electronic mail, October 16, 2002)