[jQuery] Dialog buttons for closing

i am having problems with the buttons used to close the dialog.

sample with dialog:
http://www.roxstyle.com/projects/blssi/cms/de-tool-v3/proj-awards.html

on this wireframe, if you click "+Award" a form opens. In the form, if
you click "Select Project" the  jquery ui-dialog opens.

there are two areas that have buttons for potential closing the
dialog, plus the icon in the top right. I can not figure out what
class, or function to add to these buttons to have them close the
dialog. I can not use the default "buttonpane" as it dynamically makes
a block level area that has only buttons, and this layout has other
elements besides the buttons.

i have tried the following, but it does not work.

// close modal universal TESTING
$(function modalClose() {
        $(".modal-close").click(function() {
        $(this).dialog('destroy');
        return true;
        });
});

i have tried a destroy funtion on the dialog
$(function() {
        $(".updaterecip").hide();
        $("#recipient").dialog({
                bgiframe: true,
                autoOpen: false,
                height:510,
                width:700,
                resizable: false,
                modal: true,
                zIndex: 3200,
                overlay: {
                        backgroundColor: '#000',
                        opacity: 0.4
                },
                title: 'Choose a Recipient for Award',
                onClose:$(".updaterecip").show(),
                destroy: function() {
                        $(".modal-close").click(function() {
                        $(this).dialog('destroy');
                        });
                },
        });