The community will have the opportunity to meet Dora the Explorer, Scooby Doo, members of VeggieTales, and even a 12-year-old film star Thursday afternoon.

If you’re 8 or under, you may even get a chance to climb in or crawl through a giant lilac tree.

The grand opening for MedleyKids, which Medley Centre owner and developer Adam Bersin calls “the world’s largest indoor-themed soft play area,” opens with a splash at 4:30p.m. Thursday, Dec.15.

MedleyKids is the latest amenity Bersin is bringing to the center, and will be the only such play area in a mall in the Rochester area.

“I’m trying to distance the property (the former Irondequoit Mall) from the typical malls in the area,” Bersin explained, “and demonstrate that we’re a safe, family-friendly place to shop.”

Bersin said that he and his wife, Anna, parents of three children under age 5, directed the play area designers regarding what they thought it should look like.

Professionals from Klondike Kidstuff Inc., which he described as the “world’s leading experts” in the field, designed the almost 3,000-square-foot area to look like a garden, complete with “firefly lights” and a giant lilac tree in the middle.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind play garden,” said Paul Kennel, a senior officer with Klondike Kidstuff.

There are 20 or more play elements for children up to 8 years old to jump or climb on, slide down or crawl through, Bersin said. The play area is designed only for children less than 44 inches tall.

“We will do whatever we need to do,” Bersin said, to keep order in the play area and older children out. Initially, there will be MedleyKids Ambassadors on hand to help.

Bersin said he spent “nearly $500,000” on the play area, which is made of rubberized foam to be accident-proof.

Seating around the perimeter allows adults to supervise children’s play.

“It’s not child care nor a baby-sitting service,” Bersin said of the play area. “It’s family time.”

He envisions that if a family comes to the center together to shop, one parent might stay with the children in the play area while the other parent shops, then switch.

Installation of the play area, located on the center’s lower level, near Kaufmann’s, started about 10 days ago.

Bersin said he wanted to make the opening of the area “wonderful,” so he’s bringing in costumed cartoon characters. He also learned early this week, that 12-year-old film star Cameron Bright will fly in from the West Coast to be on hand for the event.

Bright was seen in three 2004 films: “The Butterfly Effect,” “Godsend” and “Birth,” and has appeared with stars such as Nicole Kidman, Robert DeNiro, Robert Duvall and Halle Berry. He’s filming “X-Men 3,” scheduled for release in 2006.