PARKVILLE, MO. ? City officials cordoned off a section of this Kansas City suburb’s downtown for more than three hours Friday after a caller claimed a 110-foot-tall smokestack was threatening to fall over.

The smokestack atop the Power Plant Restaurant and Brewery is almost 90 years old and has a history of loose tiles falling off of it.

But the building owner’s engineering firm assured city officials that the smokestack was not in danger of toppling.

Many stores and the Power Plant Restaurant were able to reopen later, although some shopkeepers said they felt an impact.

“We lost a fair amount of business,” said Alex Westen, a clerk at The Sweet Guy candy shop across the street from the restaurant, saying he had to turn away about a dozen customers during the evacuation.

Tom Hutsler, who owns the former power plant, said he already planned to tear down most of the smokestack next month because it’s gotten too expensive to maintain.