Kansas City, Mo. ? Octave Chanute was a man of many interests. He played an important role in Kansas City’s development, and a town in eastern Kansas is named for him.

He is mostly forgotten now, but that’s about to change. The Chanute High School class of 1941 is planning a sculpture in his namesake town honoring Chanute and his contribution to human flight.

Chanute was born in 1832 and came to Kansas City just after the Civil War. He designed the first railroad bridge over the Missouri River, which fueled development of the young city.

Chanute went on to design the stockyards, plat the town of Lenexa, Kan. – now a thriving Kansas City suburb – and lay out rail lines into Kansas.

Later in the 1800s he left the area. Chanute became interested in aviation, conducted glider experiments and provided important advice to the Wright Brothers before their pioneering 1903 flight.

He died in in 1910 in Chicago.

Back in mid-America, public recognition of him never came.

“There is nothing I know of in Kansas City, and it’s a shame,” said Bill Nicks, parks and recreation director in Lenexa and an expert on Chanute. “He doesn’t get his due.”

The city of Chanute, about 100 miles southwest of Kansas City and with a population of about 9,500, traces its roots to the French-born engineer, railroader and aviation booster.

But Chanute has little recognition even there, said Robert Blunk, a retired art professor who is the designer of the sculpture and a member of the 1941 class.

“There’s really nothing much,” Blunk said.

The sculpture to honor Chanute will be an artistic depiction of a glider balanced on an 80-foot boom that will function as a giant wind vane.

Not everyone likes the planned mobile, Chanute City Manager Randy Riggs said.

Nevertheless, Chanute should do better at memorializing its patron, said Riggs, who said some residents didn’t even know where the city got its name.

Plans call for the sculpture to be dedicated on Dec. 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first flight.