Rialto Bridge in Venice to Be Restored With Corporate Money

ROME â€" The city of Venice announced Friday that the fashion entrepreneur Renzo Rosso, the founder of the OTB holding company â€" whose brands include Diesel, Viktor & Rolf and Martin Margiela â€" had donated 5 million euros (about $6.5 million) through the company to restore the Rialto Bridge in the city.

The present stone bridge was finished in 1592, and though it remains structurally sound, it is beginning to show its age. The last restoration was in 1975.

“Master craftspeople will meticulously clean the stone, which will take some time, it's a bit like restoring a painting,” Mr. Rosso said in a telephone interview. The cleaning will be preceded by a careful analysis of the bridge, which will include study of the foundations by scuba divers. “We want this restoration to last for the next 1,000 years,” he said.

The city will oversee the planning and restoration, alongside culture ministry officials, while Mr. Rosso will foot the bill. In exchan ge, Mr. Rosso's brands will get billboard placement on one of the city's most famous monuments. Mr. Rosso said the ads would be non-intrusive “and creative - we hope to do something artistic,” he said. He will also have access to city real estate for fashion shows and events.

The restoration is expected to take 18 months, once the preliminary research is carried out, and the should be finished by February 2016, according to a statement by Venice city officials.

The subsidy comes as welcome relief to the city, which, like Italy as a whole, is struggling to make ends meet. “We are facing a period of severe crisis in Italy, and even a city like Venice doesn't have the means to cover all the restoration and maintenance works its immense cultural heritage would require,” Alessandro Maggioni, Venice's councilor in charge of public works, said in a statement. “This is why Renzo Rosso's commitment is so important for us: it is a message for the entire world.”

Though several international committees have sponsored the restoration of Venetian palazzos and churches â€" Save Venice and Venice in Peril, to name two â€" Mr. Rosso's gift is the largest such donation by an Italian, according to a spokesperson for city hall. Mr. Rosso said he hoped it would encourage other Italians to follow suit. “Bono and the Dalai Lama have told me repeatedly to use my brands so that others can imitate me,” he said.