Leicestershire County Cricket Club has received a £1m (US$1.4m, €1.3m) grant from the local council to improve its Grace Road ground ahead of the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Grace Road is one of the five venues to host World Cup matches next year. The money – being granted by Leicester City Council – will go towards improving public Wifi, increasing the number of food and drink outlets and developing all of the existing stands.

The members-only Maurice Burrows Balcony will also be restored to give supporters a “great view of the action”. Leicestershire will pay the loan back with a five per cent interest rate by 2018.

“We have a robust business plan and want to improve the experience of coming to Grace Road as quickly as we can,” said Leicestershire CEO Wasim Khan. “It’s imperative that we drive forward these plans as quickly as possible, as we are to hold major match days in the next two years, including our popular T20 Blast games and the Women’s World Cup.”

Khan said the competition would “help inspire a generation of young cricket supporters and will encourage more female cricketers to take up the sport in Leicester”.

Last month, Leicester City Council approve plans for Leicestershire to install six floodlights at Grace Road in time for the beginning of the T20 Blast season in May.

Leicester City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the council wanted to facilitate the club’s “ambitious plans” which will attract more people to matches and raise the profile of Leicestershire.

“Having successful sports clubs brings major benefits to the city, as the recent success of Leicester City Football Club has shown,” he added. “By providing this loan the council can help the cricket club fast-track its improvements, and we will earn interest on the repayment.”