HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — New rules about gatherings in Pennsylvania are going into place earlier than scheduled.

On Monday, May 17 capacity limits for indoor events will be 50% and for outdoor events, it will be 75%. Then on May 31, the limits go away entirely.

For the Whitaker Center, those changes are exciting. COO Meghan Clark says they have a schedule full of performers for the summer.

“In June and beyond we’ve made the adjustment that 100% of the house seating capacity is open and it’s very exciting,” Clark said. “It’s really great to be back.”

With crowd sizes growing, so is their list of people coming to perform.

“Performers are loving it. We’ve actually had a lot of artists, probably 5 or 6 just in the past couple of days, email us saying they’re back on tour with these restrictions lifted and they want to come through our venue. So it’s very exciting,” Clark said.

Not only is it exciting for performers and audiences, it will make a big difference for their bottom line.

“To be able to be back open to welcome our members, sell memberships, sell tickets, have performers through, it’s going to help us a lot financially,” Clark said.

With audiences headed to local bars and restaurants before and after the shows, they won’t be the only ones benefitting.

“It’s really going to be good for Downtown Harrisburg economically to be up and running,” Clark said.

She says they do plan to keep masking and doing extra cleaning, but otherwise, they’re glad to be back to business as usual.

“Whitaker Center is back. We’re stronger than ever and we’re ready to welcome everyone through our doors,” Clark said.

Governor Wolf says this move is meant to help local businesses. Republican Senator Judy Ward says she thinks moving up the timeline to the day before the primary election shows that the Governor is trying to influence voters.