Teen charged with arson after fire at Great Northern Mall

The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office arrested a 17-year-old Baldwinsville boy on July 2 after he broke into Great Northern Mall late June 30 and set paper on fire near the old Regal Cinema, starting a blaze that reached the roof.

He faces third-degree arson, third-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal mischief. Firefighters found the fire burning inside the theater area as well as in the roof, but crews from at least six departments brought it under control in about 20 minutes. Investigators also found an unsecured door.

The fire broke out during a busy night near the shuttered mall, when a weekly food truck event and fireworks drew hundreds of people to the parking lot. Black smoke from the building added to the visibility of the scene and pushed emergency crews back to a property that has sat mostly empty in recent years.

Great Northern Mall opened in 1988 and closed on Nov. 20, 2022, after 34 years as one of the main retail centers for Onondaga County’s northern suburbs.

Redevelopment plans for the property have been moving ahead since March 14, 2024, when Hart Lyman Companies and Conifer Realty LLC outlined a major overhaul that would add housing, medical facilities, professional office space, a Clay community center, hotels, shopping, dining and entertainment uses. Most of the old mall is slated to come down, and demolition was expected to begin this week even after the fire.

Before that work, National Grid had already finished capping power and gas lines at the site.