Activity around Hemming Plaza returned to normal about 12:45 p.m. after the bomb squad and hazardous materials team determined a suspicious package found Tuesday morning near the Federal Courthouse was no threat the public.

Hemming Plaza was evacuated by mid-morning and streets and sidewalks in the area were blocked and the JTA's Skyway was shut down for about three hours.

IMAGES: 2 blocks closed to people, traffic

City Hall was not evacuated, but people were not able to enter or leave through the main entrance facing Hemming Plaza.

Channel 4's Jim Piggott was told the object looked like a package of samples wrapped in duct tape.

About 11 a.m., the bomb squad set off a counter charge to make sure the object was not explosive, and the operation left behind some white powder.  The hazmat team spent the next hour trying to determine if the substance was harmful.

"We're going to determine if it's a hoax. It could be drugs, or it could be something we should be concerned about, so we're doing everything possible to find out what it is," JSO spokeswoman Melissa Bujeda said just before noon.

Piggott said the all-clear was sounded just before 12:30 p.m. and about 15 minutes later the sidewalks and building entrances reopened.