William Lyon Takes Center Chair : Arts Board: Gavel passes to real estate developer from Henry T. Segerstrom, who was the founding chairman.

Henry T. Segerstrom, founding chairman and chief executive officer of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, passed the gavel Thursday to his successor William Lyon, a Newport Beach real estate developer named for the post one year ago.

Segerstrom, 67, who led the Center through its construction and opening in September, 1986, headed the $73.3-million facility’s building fund drive, which was heralded at the time as the biggest private campaign for building a performing arts complex in the United States.

Segerstrom is managing partner of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons Inc., a Costa Mesa development firm. His family pledged $6 million to the Center and donated the land on which it stands. He is stepping down because bylaws adopted in April, 1989, stipulate that chairmen are limited to three successive one-year terms.

Lyon’s designation was approved Thursday by the full board at a quarterly meeting held at the Center.

Lyon is owner of the William Lyon Co. The Newport Beach development company, whose sales totaled $638.2 million in 1989, is Southern California’s largest home builder, according to The Times Survey of Residential Construction.

Lyon, a Center board member since 1985, has contributed $11.3 million to the Center and several millions to other institutions.

He said his five years as a trustee at the Center and his extensive activities with several charitable organizations in Orange County qualify him for the job of chairman.

Lyon said he intends to focus efforts on the center’s financial health, which is the board’s primary responsibility.

Nonetheless, “I think we’re going to continue to maintain the same level of quality of world class performances,” Lyon said.

Twelve incumbents were re-elected to the Center’s 52-member board Thursday and two new members were elected. They are Lawrence M. Higby, president of The Times Orange County Edition and a vice president of the Los Angeles Times, and Les G. McCraw, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Fluor Corp.