Memorial Day typically marks the unofficial start of summer, but the season came to Bartlett a few days earlier this year.

The Park District unveiled the newly renovated Leiseberg Park and its splash pad May 21, which is sure to be a hit with children looking to cool off during the warm months ahead. The concrete play area includes features that spray, shoot and dump water.

As soon as district officials turned the water on, children dashed for the splash pad, shooting each other with water cannons and shouting with joy.

“It’s awesome,” said Brandon Yu, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Horizon Elementary School.

Brandon said his favorite part is a round, green arch that comes out of the ground and sprays water at its center.

The $800,000 renovation of Leiseberg Park, 325 E. Devon Ave., began in 2006 when the Park District received a $400,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

In addition to the splash pad, the district added a new trampoline-like feature to the playground, built a picnic shelter, heightened the sledding hill, created new paths, made improvements to the pond, planted prairie and wetland plants, put up new fences for tennis courts and the baseball field and upgraded the parking lot, said Jon Carlson, the superintendent of parks and planning.

“Construction started ... in the summer last year,” Carlson said. “Things wrapped up by late fall.”

Park Board President Kenneth Woods said the district held public meetings to determine what the community wanted to see in the newly improved park.

“The finished park you see before us is a great addition to our communitywide park system,” Woods said before cutting the ribbon on the splash pad. “We trust that you will find this place to be full of fun.”

Park District Executive Director Rita Fletcher said the splash pad is a fun, free alternative to the pool.

“It’s something we didn’t have in the community,” Fletcher said. “They’re very unique and a great way to cool off for especially the younger kids.”

Carter FitzSimmons, 10, a fourth-grader at Centennial Elementary School, had one suggestion to make the splash pad even better.

“Make (the water) a little warmer,” he said, before running back under the jets.