SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Caddo Parish Commission voted overwhelmingly in a special meeting Tuesday afternoon to put a box up around the Confederate monument outside the courthouse in downtown Shreveport.

Commissioner Stormy Gage-Watts made the motion to put up the box in order to defuse racial tensions that have arisen in recent weeks amid protests and counter-protests focused on the monument until a final resolution can be reached in a court case over its removal.

The final vote was 11 in favor, with one opposed. Commissioner Todd Hopkins was lone the dissenter.

The measure calls for the enclosure to be built around the monument by Friday at midnight. It also calls for the American flag to be displayed on the north side of the box, the Louisiana flag on the south side, the Shreveport flag on the east side, and the Caddo Parish flag on the west.

The commission also voted 11-1 Tuesday to amend an ordinance passed last week to increase the minimum age for children to wear masks under an ordinance passed last week from two to eight in order to align it with Gov. John Bel Edwards’ statewide mandatory mask order.

Commissioner Hopkins was also the lone dissenter on that vote.