Borough officials said Moles filed papers on Thursday appealing a Montgomery County Court decision the day before that granted them permission to bring in the demolition crew.
Attorneys were expected to meet with a Superior Court judge tomorrow.
Norristown Solicitor Joseph Pizonka said borough officials will be ready to destroy the building "within 24 hours" of final action in the case, but will wait until the situation is resolved.
"I think it's only fair to let him have a shot in front of the Superior Court," Pizonka said.
On Wednesday, County Judge Samuel W. Salus 2d found that the building was damaged beyond feasible repair.
According to Salus, Moles was "indulging in fantasia" by using unsigned leases to estimate the value of his building, which has had no paying tenant since Woolworth closed in 1991.
In addition, Moles "grossly underestimated" the cost of repairing the building, Salus ruled.
The landlord's $18,000-to-$20,000 estimate was based on "jury-rigged construction, did not address the entirety of the damages involved, ignored most of the smoke and water damage to the interior, and completely ignored the code violations which were laid bare by the fire," Salus wrote.
Even after slashing borough estimates of the repair costs by more than 50 percent, Salus said it would take between $750,000 and $1 million to bring the building into compliance with all the codes and make it marketable.
In court last month, a borough-hired appraiser testified that Moles' property was worth a maximum of $200,000.
"This building would have to be priced where the feeding sharks swim in order to obtain a purchaser," appraiser Thomas Bearoff testified.
"The overall value of that building lies in the underlying land."
On Wednesday, Moles said the building has value because it has saved him
from having to pay rent elsewhere.
