{"id":240489,"date":"2026-04-21T15:45:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/240489\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:45:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:45:26","slug":"george-levesque-leaving-abilene-for-tampa-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/240489\/","title":{"rendered":"George Levesque leaving Abilene for Tampa Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our guest on this episode of the Abilene People podcast is\u00a0George Levesque, Executive Director of the\u00a0Historic Paramount Theatre<\/a>\u00a0in downtown Abilene. Soon, George will leave the Key City for Tampa Bay, Florida, where he will step into a new role as President and CEO of the\u00a0Tampa Theatre<\/a>, a venue with striking similarities to Abilene\u2019s own Paramount.<\/p>\n

The parallels between the two theaters are remarkable. The Tampa Theatre was built in 1926, followed by the Abilene Paramount in 1930. Both were originally tied to Paramount Pictures, both fell into periods of decline, and both were ultimately restored through the passion and commitment of their communities in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, each theater seats around 1,200 people and holds a place on the National Register of Historic Places. Beginning in June, both will also share another unique connection: a leader from Colorado City, Texas, at the helm.<\/p>\n

In this conversation, George reflects on how this opportunity came together and what it means to take on a leadership role in another historic theater. He talks candidly about the transition, from becoming a \u201cFlorida man,\u201d to navigating his family\u2019s future and the response from the Abilene community, including the Paramount\u2019s board, staff, and supporters.<\/p>\n

We also revisit the early days of George\u2019s tenure in Abilene, when he stepped into the role following the long and successful leadership of Betty Hukill. Taking on that responsibility came with its own challenges, and George shares what it was like to lead the theater through that transition while continuing to build on its legacy.<\/p>\n

Finally, George looks back on his proudest accomplishments at the Paramount and shares what excites him most about the move to Tampa Bay. It\u2019s a thoughtful, full-circle conversation about leadership, legacy, and the enduring importance of preserving spaces that bring communities together.<\/p>\n

And be sure to click on the \u201cafter the podcast is over\u201d chat for some additional fun conversation!<\/p>\n

after the podcast is over<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB – BigCountryHomepage.com. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our guest on this episode of the Abilene People podcast is\u00a0George Levesque, Executive Director of the\u00a0Historic Paramount Theatre\u00a0in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[106404,106405,106403,106402,106406,106400,106401,135,1526,137,136,21265],"class_list":["post-240489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-abilene-community","tag-abilene-paramount","tag-george-will","tag-is-george-levesque","tag-national-register-of-historic-places","tag-paramount-pictures","tag-paramount-theatre","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-tampa-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}