The sponsorship contract foresees that the city of Venice will take care of the planning, project management and restoration, while the sponsor OTB will cover all costs.
A communication plan signed by the city of Venice and OTB sets the terms for the use of advertising billboards and the sponsor’s president Renzo Rosso has said that he will foster creativity and use non-intrusive advertising.
“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,” said Venice’s deputy mayor for public works, Alessandro Maggioni.
The city of Venice will start work in January on the preliminary studies before preparing the plans and issuing a call for bids to carry out the restoration project. The restoration is expected to take 18 months and should be finished by the end of February 2016.
“I always thought that it's a civic duty to bring back to the community we belong to,” said Rosso. “Among my responsibilities there is also that of preserving the cultural heritage of my country. The Rialto Bridge is one of Italy's icons worldwide and actually belongs to the whole world, exactly as my brands do.”
