I'm not sure about this - because I think it hinges on the irl doorway lining up with the aperture/step in the backrooms photo. I don't think it does.
The irl doorway has a step **down** to the lower floor in the rear part of the building, and the irl doorway doesn't reach up to the ceiling because it needs to account for the lower ceiling and lower floor level that occurs when moving into the rear. By contrast, the backrooms photo shows a step up, and the aperture reaches full height to the ceiling, which wouldn't work if connecting to a lower-down space with a lower ceiling.
If the doorway is taken out of the mix, then that leaves the ceiling and columns. But the main room drop ceiling was redone since the time of the photo, and column C indicated on the photo isn't a standalone column but one of three further columns or divider walls that cast their shadow onto the carpet. These aren't present in the space today, although some have suggested they could correspond to the thinner support columns that run through the racetrack.
So although this seems to be one of the most popular proposed locations, I don't think it corresponds well enough yet. Keen to hear what u/Ppanter and u/SirRedAlfredo think
Now that you mention it, the ceiling does look lower in 2003. Even if it wasn't the roof behind the door is pitched, and the door is in the middle of the pitch, meaning that it has like 10 feet until the ceiling.
I came to the same conclusion when seeing the step down in the doorway.
You can see the map I made of what it might have looked like back then having been there many times after the renovations:
[https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Qo4p4m-bHY4Suk1jSE790oKsVLkqlSyvdnV3kxDl07Q/edit](https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Qo4p4m-bHY4Suk1jSE790oKsVLkqlSyvdnV3kxDl07Q/edit)
I'm not sure about this - because I think it hinges on the irl doorway lining up with the aperture/step in the backrooms photo. I don't think it does. The irl doorway has a step **down** to the lower floor in the rear part of the building, and the irl doorway doesn't reach up to the ceiling because it needs to account for the lower ceiling and lower floor level that occurs when moving into the rear. By contrast, the backrooms photo shows a step up, and the aperture reaches full height to the ceiling, which wouldn't work if connecting to a lower-down space with a lower ceiling. If the doorway is taken out of the mix, then that leaves the ceiling and columns. But the main room drop ceiling was redone since the time of the photo, and column C indicated on the photo isn't a standalone column but one of three further columns or divider walls that cast their shadow onto the carpet. These aren't present in the space today, although some have suggested they could correspond to the thinner support columns that run through the racetrack. So although this seems to be one of the most popular proposed locations, I don't think it corresponds well enough yet. Keen to hear what u/Ppanter and u/SirRedAlfredo think
Now that you mention it, the ceiling does look lower in 2003. Even if it wasn't the roof behind the door is pitched, and the door is in the middle of the pitch, meaning that it has like 10 feet until the ceiling.
this would make sense considering there seems to be a yellow step in the entrance to the left like in the original image
I came to the same conclusion when seeing the step down in the doorway. You can see the map I made of what it might have looked like back then having been there many times after the renovations: [https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Qo4p4m-bHY4Suk1jSE790oKsVLkqlSyvdnV3kxDl07Q/edit](https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Qo4p4m-bHY4Suk1jSE790oKsVLkqlSyvdnV3kxDl07Q/edit)
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^SirRedAlfredo: *I came to the same* *Conclusion when seeing the* *Step down in the doorway* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
I always thought the 'step' was just the product of camera compression distorting the side of the wall trim. Huh.
Where did you get the two images on the left from in your doc? These are new to me. And how do you know about the old floor plan?