AUBURN – There’s a grainy photo on a wall at Thayer Corp.

It’s the company’s first building: a single-door chicken coop in need of fresh paint.

The shed in that 1981 picture is smaller than the conference room at the company’s new building on Hotel Road, opened to the public Friday and Saturday.

“We’re thrilled to be here,” said David Reed, business manager, as he led a tour. “It’s a tremendous facility.”

Thayer is a state leader in air conditioning and heating systems. The contractor tallies about $6 million in annual sales, and was named 2003 commercial contractor of the year by Contracting Business, a national trade publication.

The company has grown from Richard Thayer’s back yard in Minot, to a building on Hampshire Street in Auburn, to this 58,000-square-foot facility – nearly three times the space of its last location.

Finding more space had become a necessity.

The company has been in growth mode, expanding from commercial work into the residential market. It now employs nearly 60 people, maintains a fleet of 40 vehicles and has added plumbing services to its list.

“We cover the entire state of Maine,” Reed said, noting jobs at Fraser Paper in Madawaska and a power plant in Westbrook.

Thayer Corp. bought the parcel on Hotel Road last summer. The building on the lot was built for Belgrade Shoe in the 1950s and had changed hands several times, last owned by a fiberglass manufacturer. Thayer spent nearly a year renovating and expanding, before shifting operations here in early May.

“We replaced everything except for the steel and the concrete,” Reed said.

The company currently uses about half of the building’s space, and plans on leasing the rest. It is a state-of-the-art facility, with space for sales, management and manufacturing. It includes a conference room and classroom for employee training. The air systems are extremely efficient, Reed said, and a boiler powers snow-melt coils beneath walkways and entrance bays.

Daniel Thayer, Richard’s son, is now the sole owner of the company. His father retired several years ago, but still spends much of his time at the facility.

The company hopes for continued growth within the residential side of business, while keeping a focus on commercial work.

“We’ve done about $1.5 million of residential work in the last year and a half,” Reed said. “This new space gives us the opportunity to build on that.”

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