Noted Architect designs beer garden
Louis Petro has worked, taught around the U.S.
by DEANNA KRINN - The News-Sentinel
November 6, 2007

What do high-rise housing complexes, a naval military base and a beer garden have in common?

Local engineer Louis Petro, 83, has designed all three at least once.

His most recent project, the beer garden at Deer Park Irish Pub, 1530 Leesburg Road, is open and going through finishing touches. Owner Tony Henry wanted to add more space for patrons. Autumn brings in a lot of customers after nearby University of Saint Francis football games. “It made sense to make an outdoor arena for Cougars to congregate in,” he said.

The beer garden is about 550 square feet, the size of two parking places. It has a few picnic tables and a small stand-up bar inside.

“It’s really more of a ‘beer porch,’” Petro said.

The “porch” is just one project in a huge line. A highlight was redesigning the naval military base at Pendleton, Va. The base, completed in 1953, was made entirely out of concrete to withstand the blasts of cannon fire during training.

Petro, who has Ph.D. in structural engineering, has also helped design high-rise housing complexes in New York City, as well as retrofitting a 28-story building there.

Despite his architectural accomplishments, Petro said he is “probably most proud of teaching.” He started at Jamestown Community College in New York, and then went to several other universities before landing in 1954 in fort Wayne.

Petro taught at Tri-State University-Fort Wayne and Indiana Tech. While at Indiana Tech, he encountered a student who has made a great impact.

Eric Kuhne, a student at New Haven High School, was hired in 1968 to assist Petro with a project.

“He worked his tail off,” Petro said. Petro also gave Kuhne motivation to pursue architecture after graduating in 1970 from New Haven. Today, Kuhnes is considered one of the world’s top architects with offices in New York City and London. The firm has completed projects from Russia to Australia, and Kuhne is working on a $150 billion project in Kuwait.

Petro has other fond memories of teaching. One student, a 36-year-old man who had quit school at 16 to support his family, came back to earn an engineering degree. Because of his age, he was apprehensive, but finished and is an engineer at a railroad company.

“I take great pride in stories like that,” Petro said.

His love of teaching is what kept him going, and seeing his students succeed is what made him try to get so much out of them.

“Whenever I had to flunk a student., it was gut-wrenching, just a waste of tuition,” he said.

Petro retired in 1989, but has continued to dabble in engineering and architecture by doing private jobs, such as the beer garden.

Henry, who has known Petro for about 10 years, recognizes his desire to get the most he can out of those who work under him.

“He’s a perfectionist,” Henry said. “He’s had many people walk off the job because his focus and his demands are very high. You have to be thick-skinned to work for Dr. Petro; he is tough.”

“Most people think I’m a bit of a slave driver,” Petro said. “I just tried to get the most I could out of students.”