The Mahoning Drive-In Theater found itself at the center of the drama last summer when fans rallied against plans for a proposed solar farm.

The country’s only drive-in theater showing movies on 35 mm film also found new fans and exposure in 2021.

The theater held more events than any recent year. Fans and writers from other parts of the country discovered the unique theater thanks to renewed interest in drive-ins during the pandemic.

In July, Greenskies Clean Energy announced, and quickly reversed, plans to lease the land currently used by the drive-in for a solar energy project.

The theater announced in a video that the company had filed for zoning approval to construct a solar energy farm on the site.

It led to an immediate outpouring of support online under the hashtag #savethemahoning. Fans planned to pack a planned zoning meeting in August.

The movement was helped by a recent string of publicity for the theater. Earlier that week, the theater had been featured in The New York Times. That weekend, TV host Joe Bob Briggs was scheduled to host a series of screenings at the theater attended by thousands of fans.

Within a day of the news taking off, the company said it would shelve its plans because of the significance of the theater to its fans.

“We now recognize the importance of the Mahoning Drive-in to the community of Lehighton and film enthusiasts far and wide. We are engaging with the theater operator and the landowner to resolve the concerns of all the parties involved,” they said.

Though the hearing was canceled, the theater told fans to come anyway. They held a carnival, inviting vendors and local food trucks. Fans of the Mahoning shared what makes the place special to them.

The theater also faced a hearing over its guests camping on site after shows. The Mahoning Township Zoning Hearing Board found that the theater hadn’t violated the township’s zoning ordinance. The township appealed the decision in county court in December.