Venice is to break new ground by allowing a commerical sponsor to have a bridge across the Grand Canal named after it.

Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, and William Weidner, an American hotelier, are names linked to a €10 million (£7 million) project to rebuild the wooden Accademia Bridge. The early leading candidate, however, is François Pinault, the French billionaire, who has won backing from Venice council to turn a disused 17th-century customs house into an art gallery, beating a challenge from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.

The potential renaming of one of Venice’s key bridges risks infuriating traditionalists, already alarmed at the “Disney-fication” of the “Queen of the Adriatic”.

Local officials, however, say that they have no choice. Massimo Cacciari, the Mayor of Venice, said the Accademia Bridge, built as a temporary structure in 1933 to replace the 1854 cast-iron original, had deteriorated to the point where it was “incurable”. The lagoon city’s scarce resources were needed to combat depopulation, flooding and pollution. “I am convinced the answer is to find a sponsor,” he said, adding that the sponsor — he named Mr Gates — could have the bridge named after him.

Thousands of visitors pour daily across the bridge, which links the St Mark’s side of the Grand Canal to Dorsoduro. The Dorsoduro side boasts several of Venice’s top attractions, including the Accademia Gallery, the Peggy Guggenheim modern art collection, and the church of Santa Maria della Salute, whose dome dominates the Grand Canal’s entrance.

It is an open secret that Mr Cacciari backed Mr Pinault against the Guggenheim bid for the 30-year lease on the 2,500sq m (27,000 sq ft) customs house, the Punta della Dogana. Mr Pinault, whose empire includes Christie’s, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, has made Venice his second home and has acquired Palazzo Grassi farther up the canal to display part of his art collection.

Il Gazzettino, the Venice newspaper, said that it was logical that Venice should now look to “someone like Pinault” also to fund the reconstruction of the Accademia Bridge.

Other potential sponsors are said to include Mr Weidner, whose hotel empire includes The Venetian, a $1.5 billion (£765 million) replica of Venice in Las Vegas. When the complex opened ten years ago Mr Cacciari complained that its creators had infringed Venice’s “copyright” without helping to restore the decaying original. Last year, however, he made it up with Mr Weidner, who donated $1.5 million to support the La Fenice Opera House.

Until 1854 the only bridge across the Grand Canal was the 16th-century Rialto. Venice council has commissioned a €6 million steel and glass bridge at the top end of the Grand Canal, designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Mr Pinault, who owns more than 2,000 modern artworks, has pledged to spend up to €30 million on the Punta della Dogana.

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