ARTS CENTER RESUMES HUNT FOR DIRECTOR

After the collapse of negotiations with a candidate named by a selection panel 4 1/2 weeks ago, the Orange County Performing Arts Center has resumed its nationwide search for a new executive director.

William Lund, board president of the $65.5-million center--under construction in Costa Mesa and set to open in 1986--said Sunday that candidates who were considered in the original recruitment phase that began last September may be in the running again.

Although Lund, board chairman D. James Bentley and other center officials have not identified the person selected by the panel last Jan. 16, speculation in the arts community has centered on Lawrence Wilker, president of the Playhouse Square Foundation complex in Cleveland.

Lund declined to discuss Wilker or any other matter pertaining to the recent contract negotiations or the next recruitment phase, except to say that the panel search “has reopened.”

The Orange County center post is being vacated by Len Bedsow, 67, a former Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Assn. general manager, who is retiring after four years as the center’s first executive director. Bedsow is to remain as a chief consultant to the new executive director.

Last Feb. 4, Lund announced that negotiations with the panel-recommended candidate had stalled.