Tour Guide Gene Bacher talked about the National Building Museum and the 19th century Inaugural tradition that continues in the 21st century, including President Obama’s Commander-in-Chief Ball held there in January of 2009. The first Inaugural Ball held in the National Building Museum was Grover Cleveland’s in 1885, when it was known as the Pension Building and was still under construction. Composed of over 15 million red bricks, the Pension Building contains a Great Hall that is 316 feet long and 159 feet high.