Fire breaks out at former Regal theater in Great Northern Mall

Firefighters rushed to the former Regal theater at Great Northern Mall in Clay on Tuesday evening as hundreds of people were already on the property for a free food truck night and fireworks. Crews were first called in around 6:20 to 6:28 p.m., before the fireworks portion of the event, and the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

The fire broke out inside the mostly vacant mall, a site that has been largely empty since it closed on Nov. 20, 2022. Heavy smoke and a large emergency response filled the long-defunct shopping center, where dozens of firefighters converged on a building that once anchored one of northern Onondaga County’s biggest retail properties.

The Syracuse Food Truck Association and Town of Clay Recreation had scheduled the evening as a free community fireworks night tied to the association’s #SYRFoodTrucks takeover. The event listing put the Great Northern Mall stop at 35-plus locally owned food trucks, music and fireworks at dusk. The association’s events page listed Great Northern Mall as a weekly Tuesday stop with 25 trucks.

The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office was assisting with the investigation and had not determined whether the fire was intentionally set.

Great Northern Mall opened in 1988 and steadily lost its major tenants over the years, including Macy’s in 2017, Sears in 2018 and Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2021. Hart Lyman Companies announced plans in August 2022 to turn the closed mall into a mixed-use lifestyle center with stores, apartments, hotels and a medical campus component.

By March 2026, Guy Hart said most of the 215-acre site would be demolished, with full-scale demolition able to start once National Grid capped gas lines. That plan still left some separately owned buildings in place, including Dunk & Bright Furniture, Extra Space Storage and the old Sears building that houses Sky Zone Trampoline Park and CNY Gym Centre.