The outdoor amphitheater was the center of the Silver Lake Assembly, which was formed from Camp Wesley in 1887 and replaced the Preacher Stand. Built for $2000 in 1888, just four years before Epworth Hall, it had an arched roof 32 feet high and covered a space of 80 feet by 120 feet. It could hold an audience of 2000 people as well as a choir of 500. The Assembly and the Chautauqua-type Institute that followed in 1908 used it for large worship services, lectures, concerts, entertainments, and other public gatherings during the summer season. Day visitors came by train, while others rented cottages or rooms in boarding houses or hotels. A disastrous fire, apparently set by two young boys, destroyed the building in 1918, ending an era at the Institute. Afterward, preaching took place indoors at Epworth Hall, which had been designed for lectures and the young people's Epworth League activities.