Here is a timeline of Sunday's casino town hall meeting in Petersburg

PETERSBURG − If Sunday's casino town hall meeting were a sports event, the name of the game would have been overtime.

The two-hour window for the meeting at the Petersburg Public Library opened 90 minutes wider than planned, thanks to the depths of the five presentations and the line of residents that snaked down the right side of the auditorium and almost to the back.

The auditorium was filled to capacity as more than 200 people opted to take it in. At one point, more seats had to be added, and the library opened up an adjacent meeting room to handle the overflow.

No one seemed to complain, though, as attendees soaked up the information in the first and only opportunity where all five casino bidders would be on hand to make their cases.

The meeting was livestreamed on the Petersburg City Council website. To watch the meeting live, click here.

The Progress-Index will have more coverage of the meeting Monday. In the meantime, below is a timeline of each presentation:

1:49 p.m.

The meeting will start in about 10 minutes. Vendors have set up displays around the auditorium and representatives are milling through the crowd.

2:05 p.m.

Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, opens the meeting by talking about the partnership that has resulted in the live meeting. She invited City Manager March Altman to the podium to talk about the "community-changing" activity that is the casino.

2:09 p.m.

Penn National Gaming is first. They are presenting the Petersburg Hollywood Casino, and they open with a video talking about the company's vision.

2:15 p.m.

Penn National Gaming says they are considering a 90-acre site off Frontage Road just north of Rives Road. That was the ideal location for a hotel, casino and amphitheater development. Penn now is showing renderings of what it envisions. They plan to have an "ESPN Bet" sportsbook and a 200-room and suite hotel, plus nationally recognized restaurant branding. The amphitheater would be a partnership with LiveNation booking firm.

2:20 p.m.

There is one citizen in the back of the auditorium holding up a sign that says "CasiNO." Vannay Kirkland said she opposed having a casino in town for three reasons: it will create a poverty tax in Petersburg, the money promised for education and other issues is not guaranteed, and the jobs the project would create.

"Do we consider these jobs to be careers, or will they just be jobs for people to take?" Kirkland said.

2:27 p.m.

Bruce Smith presents the casino proposal on behalf of his company and The Cordish Companies.

"The citizens of Petersburg have been waiting for this opportunity for generations," Smith said.

2:33 p.m.

Cordish COO Zed Smith said the approach for the Petersburg casino is, "Go big or go home."

2:35 p.m.

"Our project site is shovel-ready," Cordish executive Ed Evans said of the 92-acre Wagner Road site. The $1.4 billion project is very similar to what the copany proposed last year -- one casino, two hotels, 650,000 square feet of entertainment and retail, and 1,000 residential units.

2:52 p.m.

Cordish just finished. Next up: Rush Street Gaming, owners of the Rivers Casino in Portsmouth

2:53 p.m.

Rush Street Gaming CEO Tim Drehkoff announces that Rivers Casino has an agreement in place with the local hospitality union for its propsal in Petersburg. Union support played a small role in Petersburg's unsuccessful bid last year.

3:07 p.m.

Rivers Casino Petersburg plans a multi-use development on 75 acres off County Drive in southeast Petersburg to include a hotel, casino and other entertainment and business opportunities. Rush Street director of development Robert Moore said the company would have up to 40% of minority investment and ownership.

"We are a safe bet," Moore said. "We are the best bet."

3:12 p.m.

Bally's Corporation takes the stage.

3:29 p.m.

Bally's presentation focused on pushing itself as the only vendor not looking to develop a site in Petersburg just to benefit properties in close proximity.

"We have no conflicts of interest nearby," Christopher Jewett, senior vice president for corporate development, said. "We have no properties within a four-hour drive of Petersburg. So we will be focused solely on Petersburg."

Bally's proposed location would be on Rives Road near Interstate 95.

3:42 p.m.

Final presenter up is The Warrenton Group.

4:17 p.m.

After a few promotional videos, Warrenton Group president and CEO Warren Williams says the proposal will make "real commitments" to Petersburg that will extend beyond a casino and hotel. Williams noted that Warrenton was the only vendor to promote development in north and south Petersburg, and also to propose expanding healthcare and culinary services.

"Petersburg has been driven past for too long," Williams said. "You shouldn't needto drive past Petersburg in order to get these benefits."

Upper Mattaponi Tribe chief Frank Adams said the Warrenton proposal will provide services to the community "for generations to come."

Delaware North, Warrenton's gaming partner, wants to build its facility on South Crater Road near Walmart.

"If you make the choice to pick, Petersburg will always feel the positive impact of a partnership who believes in Petersburg," said Osi Imomoh, president and general manager of Southlands Casino in West Memphis, Arkansas.

Bandele McQueen, Warrenton's chief of staff, goes over the company's "Northern Gateway" proposal to put a hotel and mixed-use development on Pocahontas Island. Those plans also include a healthcare hub and entertainment development of the Appomattox riverfront.

4:23 p.m.

The presentations are complete, and now the question-and-answer session is beginning. Citizens are lining up.,

4:39 p.m.

The Q&A is part questions, part commentary, and topics range from e-sports operations to the commitment for ipublic-safety improvement. Each vendor who spoke said the commitment to public safety will include building police substations on the properties and hiring police officers "at high-paying jobs."

5:00 p.m.

It took until the Q&A period to bring up issues around Warrenton's two-pronged proposal − and criticism from one of its competitors.

McQueen said a challenge to any proposal is to "locate a star asset." In Petersburg, he noted, those assets were at both ends of town.

Evans, of Cordish, said a "bifurcated" proposal such as Warrenton's "would make me nervous." Evans said Cordish's proposal puts all the benefits in one location "where you would not have to drive through neighborhoods" to take advantage of the offerings.

5:30 p.m.

The session was supposed to last only two hours. Many attendees left before the Q&A session began. It is now over.

The crowd starts to disperse. Some stop by the displays that the vendors have put up on either side of the auditorium. Some vendors brought "swag" such as ball caps and gift bags.

The speakers exchange pleasantries at the front of thr auditorium. A few audience members join in. Many of them take photos with Smith, while others talk to Aird and others about what they learned.

5:51 p.m.

Aird tells The Progress-Index she was "very happy" with how the meeting went. She said she plans to share some of the details learned at the meeting with her Senate colleagues when the General Assembly reconvenes Wednesday to take action on vetoes and legislation amendments from Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

One of those amendments is on Aird's Petersburg casino legislation. Youngkin wants language removed that would have required a second Assembly vote on the issue before it goes on a referendum. Aird, who endorsed the governor's recommendation, says the feedback from Sunday's meeting will be helpful when she pleas for her fellow lawmakers to accept the recommendation.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: A timeline of the Petersburg casino town hall meeting