VENICE—City officials in Venice are moving closer toward hanging giant electronic advertising screens from the palaces in St. Mark's Square, the Guardian reports. The move comes as the square faces an increasing state of disrepair, its facades and arcades in need of cleaning and restoration.

The plan includes five screens, each measuring 250 square meters, suspended in front of drapes. The drapes and screens would hide the scaffolding used to complete the restoration work, which could take more than six years.

According to Mayor Massimo Cacciari, the scheme is one born of necessity: "It's not beautiful or ugly, just necessary. We need to take care of the monuments and artworks in this city, and to do that we need a hand from sponsors."

But some Italians have decried the plan. Il Gazzettino, a Venice newspaper, wrote that St. Mark's Square was turning into Times Square; art critic Philippe Daverio warned that other famous piazzas in Italy could be next. Daverio added that council accountants could get comfortable with the money coming in from advertising, making them slow to deinstall screens.

"The money prompts greed, and I suspect that works get stretched out to fill coffers," he said. "It happened at Porta Venezia in Milan, where a four-month job lasted two and a half years."

According to Venice officials, the city hopes to make €3.6 million ($5.2 million) from the deal. The money would cover the cost of all the square's restoration work, and officials promised to approve all advertising that would be shown on the screens.

"This is a lesser evil, given that resources are short and monuments are falling to pieces," the office of the local architectural superintendent said in a statement.