Can you enclose tower speakers ( and retain sound)?

[Race Bannon]

I have a big home theater room with Polk towers (RTiA7). I'm doing a remodel for that room that is not for sound purposes -- we're generally upgrading the decor with some wainscot paneling, exposed rafters, etc. It's going to have more a Craftsman/wood look.

Anyway, in conjunction with that project, the tower speakers are currently sitting where there's going to be some elaborate custom woodwork around a big fireplace, and there are some big wood columns ( box style) going in right near the speaker placement.

Would it work (sound-wise, assume I can take care of the carpentry, structural) to build a box/column around the Polks to hide them, obvious with acoustic screen material in the front?

I've included a picture below just to help you visualize. Ours will be different, but this mantel column is close enough to the concept for you to imagine if those Polk towers were inside the columns that flank that fireplace.