Close at hand, about a half-mile to the northwest of Harringay, Alexandra Palace and its park were laid out as a popular entertainment venue for the working people of north London. Designed to rival the Crystal Palace in South London, it opened to the public on 24 May 1873. The building was constructed almost entirely out of the materials of the 1862 International Exhibition (also known as the Great London Exposition). Fifteen days after it first opened, the building was gutted by fire – probably caused by some workmen who had been working on the roof of the great dome dropping lighted tobacco.