The expansive public area encircling the Senate Building on Coruscant was known as the Imperial Plaza. Prior to Sheev Palpatine's ascent from Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic to ruler of the Galactic Empire, this space had been referred to as either the Senate Plaza or the Republic Plaza. In the fifth year following the foundation of the Empire, proposals were made to construct a monumental statue of Palpatine within the Imperial Plaza.