This summer the walk along Spring Lane sounded more like a job site than a park. The Plymouth Independent described heavy equipment, a contractor trailer and piles of material taking up free parking around Jenney Pond. Police officers directed weekday traffic in and out of the Spring Lane lot, and the park was cut off from Brewster Gardens and the waterfront. "Truck and tractor back-up signals sound more regularly than bird chirping," the paper wrote.
Gillis Family Tavern sat in the middle of that, inside the Jenney Grist Mill complex. Its last day at 6 Spring Lane was May 31, 2026. As of mid-October it is open again at 22 Main Street, according to the Patriot Ledger's October 15 foodie roundup.
The two events are connected. A project meant to bring river herring back up Town Brook moved one of downtown's family restaurants from the mill to Main Street. Until the brook paths reopen, downtown's restaurant map leans a little further onto Main Street.
Why a fish project moved a tavern
The work around the mill is the $20.9 million restoration of Town Brook near Jenney Pond. According to the Plymouth Independent, it is the last piece of a decades-long effort to give herring a clear run from the Atlantic to Billington Sea. Five dams on the brook have come out since 2002. The Jenney Pond dam is staying, but it has to be repaired because its spillway would not hold up in a 100-year storm.
Town Manager Derek Brindisi called the job "extremely complicated" in comments to the Independent. He described it as upgrading the dam, improving the stormwater system, building a fish bypass and repairing the walkway to Brewster Gardens. He also said the town's Department of Energy and Environment has been working closely with area businesses to limit the impact and would keep doing so until the project is finished.
For a restaurant that depended on daytime walk-in traffic, that kind of work zone hit hardest at lunch. Jimmy Gillis told the Independent the tavern lost at least $2,000 a day on lunch. Dinner held up better because crews had gone home by then, and regulars kept finding their way through the site, though many tourists turned around. The restaurant closed after about 18 months of disruption.
What replaced the old corner on Main Street
The new address is the former Proof 22 space. Developer Rick Vayo owns the building and was looking for a tenant that suited downtown. According to the Independent, he ate at the grist mill twice before signing a lease, without saying who he was. On one of those visits he brought a party of about 10 to test the kitchen.
He also described the gap he thinks the tavern fills:
"My view has always been that downtown Plymouth needs an eclectic mix of dining options. We need three more Cork + Tables, no question about that. But we're also lacking a little bit in what I would term the mid-tier, or American cuisine. It can't all be 'fine dining.'"
Vayo said that to the Plymouth Independent in July. Gillis calls the new place an accessible "bistro pub." In his words, "You can have your pizza, your wings, salads, but you can also have a real good chicken or steak dinner." He told the paper they "took everything down to the walls." The room he described has exposed brick, a copper ceiling, antique chandeliers and wall sconces, cherry wood floors and a few big-screen TVs that the family is "not going to overdo."
Here is how the two locations compare, based on public records and the restaurant's own site.
| Jenney Grist Mill | 22 Main Street | |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Inside the mill complex on Town Brook | Downtown storefront, former Proof 22 space |
| Run there | Through May 31, 2026 | Open as of mid-October 2026 |
| Posted hours | Not applicable | 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday |
| Kitchen | Not applicable | Closes at 10 p.m. daily |
| Concept | Family tavern | Family "bistro pub" with quiet entertainment |
The license is broader than the posted schedule. At its September 8, 2026 meeting, the Select Board approved the change of location. Gillis told the board the concept was family-oriented, with quiet entertainment and no late hours. The same minutes show a comprehensive entertainment license covering radio, television, dancing, live entertainment and Sunday entertainment, plus an extension of hours to 1 a.m. The tavern's own site currently lists a midnight close. That posted schedule is the one to plan around.
The October menu is posted on the restaurant's website as images, so check it there before you go.
What the construction is building back at the mill
The upside of the disruption is in the details. When David Gould, the town's director of energy and environment, talked to the Plymouth Independent in July, a lot of the work under Spring Lane was already finished. A new water main runs within the road. The power line that used to hang over Spring Lane is now underground, and so is a new gas line. Rock armor covers the upstream face of the dam, and a reinforced concrete wall inside it is designed to push floodwater up and over instead of scouring away the earthen fill.
Once the project is finished, the brook walk will run like this, from the pond down to the harbor:
- Around the mill. A new nature-like fishway will replace the old fish ladder. It will be lined with concrete and stone as it passes the mill, with a path of colored concrete stamped with animal prints alongside it. The mill garden that was torn out will be replanted with wheelchair-accessible walkways.
- Downstream of the mill. Every old path is being replaced with an ADA-compliant one. New drainage will keep groundwater from running across the walkways, where it used to freeze in winter.
- At Market Street. The channel has been narrowed to make the water deeper, with clusters of boulders where herring can rest. Below Market Street, a precast concrete boardwalk made to look like wood will let groundwater seep underneath, so it stays walkable in winter. New landscaping and lighting are planned there too.
- Under Main Street Extension. The broken asphalt walkway has been removed. Its replacement will sit 6 to 8 inches higher, which makes it less likely to flood during king tides, and it will have a railing for the first time.
- Brewster Gardens. The last section of path ties into the gardens, where the project ends.
The funding comes from three places. A $10 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pays for the stream work and the fishway. Town Meeting approved $2.7 million in Community Preservation funds for the Jenney Pond footbridge and the walkways leading to it, plus $1.5 million for the trails from the dam to Brewster Gardens. The dam repair itself was funded by $6.7 million in borrowing that Town Meeting approved the year before the July report.
When the brook walk comes back
The project was a few months behind schedule as of July. Gould had hoped to open the paths for the new year. He told the Independent a harsh winter slowed the work and that the walkways should open to the public by spring 2027, with planting and landscaping continuing into that spring. No newer completion date has been published, so spring 2027 is the July estimate, not a firm opening date. Crews were expected to keep working through the summer, fall and winter.
The timing matters for the fish too. The adult herring run up to Billington Sea ends by early summer, and young herring head out to the ocean through summer and fall. Gould said crews are planning their work so the juveniles can still get out.
The mill is still part of the museum's season this fall. Plimoth Patuxet lists the Plimoth Grist Mill as an admission option for its 2026 season, which runs seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This year that is November 29. The museum's grist mill page describes it as a working mill and says most Saturday afternoons are grinding days. It doesn't give a dated 2026 schedule, so check with the museum before you plan a Saturday visit around the millstones.
A downtown that spreads out again in spring
For now, a lunch that used to start beside the brook starts at 22 Main Street. When the paths open, the route from the mill down to Brewster Gardens should be fully connected again. The walk will be wheelchair accessible, the winter ice should be gone, and the stretch under Main Street Extension will sit higher than the old path for king tides. The mill will still be standing at the top of that walk with millstones inside. Gillis Family Tavern will be a short walk away on Main Street.
If you live near Spring Lane, Brewster Gardens or Main Street and want to know how a finished Town Brook walk could affect your home's value, Kimberly Dawes and the Selling South of Boston team are glad to walk through it with you. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll share what we're seeing downtown.
