Dear PoP – Wood shop in the District? + Recommend a Carpenter

“Dear PoP,

Before I moved to the District, I lived somewhere with a great adult school which had woodworking classes for cheap (I’m talking $80 for 10 weeks) at the local high school wood shop. Since I’ve moved here, I’ve been looking for a shop where I can develop my furniture making skills and, in general, use power tools. I’ve looked for adult schools, informal shop/tool co-ops, etc., but come up short. (On a related note, the adult school opportunities in DC suck. Would it kill a city of 600,000 to have a decent community college?) Anyway, I’m curious as to whether your readers know of anything along these lines that I can check out.”

The Community College of the District of Columbia just got a new home at 801 North Capitol Street NE:

“The new CCDC Center includes a nine-story, 88,000-square-foot space with new classrooms, computer and science labs, Student Success Center, a one-stop student services center, bookstore, college faculty and administrative offices, and fitness center.”

But to the original question – anyone know of a place where you can take woodworking classes?

Photo by PoPville flickr user caroline.angelo

And while we’re on the topic – a reader has a related question:

“My husband and I live in Mt. Pleasant and a few years ago we broke our wooden banister. We are desperately trying to find a carpenter that will work in DC, and take on small projects. We have found that the job is either too small to entice people or they don’t want to come into the district. We were hoping perhaps you or one of your readers might have a few recommendations for us.”

Anyone know of a good carpenter who takes jobs like this?