PROVIDENCE — Mayor David N. Cicilline announced yesterday that he is consolidating the city Parks and Recreation departments, appointing his director of the Department of Inspection and Standards to oversee the merger.

Francisco Ramirez will take over as deputy director of parks, a position that has been vacant since March with the promotion of Robert McMahon to parks superintendent. Ramirez will keep his salary of about $97,000.

Sheila M. Barrett, the former director of public works in Coventry, will take Ramirez’s role in the inspection and standards office, with a salary of $98,610. Franks Santos will remain as recreation director.

The goal, said Cicilline, is to improve youth services and take advantage of “synergies” between the departments.

“During these challenging economic times, when our budgets are already cut to the max, we have to think more strategically about how we deliver high-quality city services with fewer resources,” Cicilline said in a news release. “By taking advantage of the synergies between these two important departments, we will be able to offer even more recreational programs and services to Providence families.”

Absent from the mayor’s plan, which will not take effect until after Jan. 5, are any specifics on how much the moves would save, whether there would be a reduction in staff, consolidation of management positions or a closure of one of the two offices.

“It’s not necessarily tied to cost,” says the mayor’s Director of Operations Alix Ogden. “It’s more about management structure … any merger of departments is complex and we want to do it right and achieve the goals we want.”

The Parks Department manages more than 100 parks, the Bank of America City Center downtown, the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, the Todd Morsilli Tennis Center and the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium. It has a staff of 148 full-time employees and a budget of about $8.5 million.

The Recreation Department manages 10 recreation centers, six pools, seven water parks and other programs and activities. It has a full-time staff of 27 and a budget of about $1.8 million.

pmarcelo@projo.com